- Daily Briefing

- Front Page

- India

- Delhi Confidential

- Opinion

- UPSC-CSE Key

- Explained

- Business

- Sunday Eye

- Science

- Movie Review

Daily Briefing

- Daily Briefing: Independence Day live; midnight stir in Kolkata; no medal for Vinesh Phogat; and more

- Daily Briefing: Muhammad Yunus reaches out to Bangla Hindus; Why Pakistan has nabbed ex-ISI chief; and more

Daily Briefing: Independence Day live; midnight stir in Kolkata; no medal for Vinesh Phogat; and more

In today's edition: Shanta Gokhale opinion; 3 Things podcast; Express in Dhaka; and more

Written by Ayesha Jain

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 09:16 IST

Top news on August 15, 2024.

🇮🇳 Happy Independence Day!

In the national capital, amid a sea of green, saffron and white, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort to mark the 78th Independence Day, making this his 11th I-day speech. Catch our live coverage of his speech and the celebrations across the country here.

‘Winning independence for the country was not winning freedom for citizens…’

As we celebrate over 7 decades of ‘freedom’, Shanta Gokhale meditates on the essence of the word, and what it means to her as a writer.

🎧 Don’t forget to tune into the latest edition of our 3 Things podcast today, where we hear three historians—Mridula Mukherjee, A R Venkatachalapathy, and Swapna Liddle—share their favourite stories from the country’s freedom struggle. They talk to us about ordinary citizens rebelling, a man who started an entire shipping company to take on the British, and an early vision of democracy that emerged in 1857, during the first war of Independence.

When we think of our freedom struggle, there is one city that was a hotbed for revolutionary activities in the early 20th century, which deserves our reflection. In the rapid political changes following India’s Independence, much of Calcutta has changed. But among the several streets, parks, hostels and cafes dotting the city today are those that carry forgotten stories of a determined anti-colonial struggle and many revolutions.

🚨 Big Story

Late last night, Kolkata saw another protest, only this time it was to urge Indian authorities to make public spaces safer for women and ensure justice in yet another rape and murder case. The demonstration soon turned violent after miscreants entered the city’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, vandalising the area where people were gathered to protest against the brutal killing of a junior doctor who worked there.

The protest came after it was reported that the wife of Sanjay Roy, the accused in the case, had filed two assault complaints (in 2023 and 2022). Both times, there was no action against Roy who – in his capacity as a civic volunteer – worked alongside the police force.

📰 From the Front Page

The newly-sworn in interim government of Bangladesh wants to work closely with India to promote bilateral relations, per its foreign affairs advisor Touhid Hossain. Hossain’s remarks came following his first meeting with Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma. However, Hossain added that deposed premier Sheikh Hasina’s public statements from India are “not conducive” towards establishing relations.

An Army Captain was killed and a civilian injured yesterday in a fierce gunbattle between security forces and terrorists in Doda district’s Akar forests in Jammu and Kashmir. The Nagrota-based White Knight Corps have said an AK-47, an M4 rifle and “war like stores” have been recovered during the operation.

And Finally…

In one sentence, Vinesh Phogat’s fate has been sealed. In its single-line order, the ad hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed her appeal against the United World Wrestling and the International Olympic Committee, effectively ending the wrestler’s hopes of getting an Olympic silver.

Vinesh’s uncle, Mahavir Phogat, expressed disappointment at the verdict, but said “nothing can take away what she has done for Indian wrestling”.

Delhi Confidential: With the Supreme Court announcing names of 39 new senior advocates, the corridors of the top court were filled with jubilation. One of the new senior advocates, Gaurav Sharma, appeared in the Chief Justice of India’s court and was congratulated by the bench. While dictating the order, CJI Chandrachud, in a lighter vein, said that Senior Advocate Sharma appeared in his junior advocate gown.

That’s all for today.

Until tomorrow,

Ayesha Jain

Business As Usual by E P Unny

Ayesha Jain

Ayesha works as a Senior Sub Editor at indianexpress.com news desk. She is interested in current affairs, climate change, politics and artistic expression of all kinds. She did a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts, with a major in English and a minor in Politics, from King's College London. At Express, she writes for the morning newsletter, The Daily Briefing, and a weekly climate newsletter, The Icebreaker. Previously, she worked at The Quint. You can reach out to her at ayesha.jain@indianexpress.com.   ... Read More

Daily Briefing: Muhammad Yunus reaches out to Bangla Hindus; Why Pakistan has nabbed ex-ISI chief; and more

In today’s edition: Yunus’ temple run; What the Paris Medal tally tells us; Why Pakistan has nabbed a former ISI chief

Written by Rounak Bagchi , Aradhana Kalia

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 09:14 IST

Top news on August 15, 2024.

Good morning! Here are the top stories from today’s edition

🚨Big Story

As Bangladesh continues to remain on the boil with Hindus facing the brunt of attack over the last week, our Diplomatic Affairs Editor Shubhajit Roy brings you the ground situation from Dhaka.

An outreach and more: With minority organisations alleging attacks on Hindus across the country, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government (Chief Advisor) Muhammad Yunus, reached out to the community with a Tuesday visit to the Dhakeshwari Temple, assuring “justice” and “equal rights” for all.

What about Sheikh Hasina?: The ousted former Prime Minister has finally broken her silence since fleeing the country. And, her comments have set the stage for a possible confrontation in Dhaka. She has asked people to observe August 15 as ‘National Mourning Day’ by placing wreaths at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum. But why the chance of a face-off? That’s because this message comes after the interim government decided to cancel the national holiday on August 15.

For context, the National Mourning Day has been a regular fixture when the Awami League is in power. First introduced in 1996 via a decree, the day marks the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

In hindsight: Could Hasina have done things differently? Well, her US-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy definitely reckons so. Admitting that mistakes were made in handling the student protests, he told The Indian Express that the government should have engaged with the protesters from the very beginning and spoken out against the quotas much earlier.

What lies ahead?: With viral conspiracy theories blaming America’s Central Intelligence Agency for Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, C Raja Mohan, an expert on international affairs, has a sobering suggestion. “India has every reason to regret Hasina’s fall from power, but Delhi can’t be detained by what happened in the last few days. It must look ahead and cooperate with the new rulers in Dhaka to build on the solid foundation she constructed for the bilateral strategic partnership,” he writes in the Opinion page.

👉Only in Express

As the Olympics drew to a close, there’s a lot to understand when one sees the final medal tally. Yes, the US were able to clinch the top spot after matching China’s 40 Gold medals by virtue of more silver medals, but little is spoken about how crucial female athletes were for USA’s haul. Likewise, the tally also holds stories of Ukraine’s resilience, athletics going global via Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem (and others), and the importance of a medal for the Refugee Olympic Team, among others. Here’s a breakdown of what the tally means for different countries, and sport in general.

📰From the Front Page

Daily workers, students, widows, elderly — people from different sections of the society have come together to help rebuild Kerala’s Wayanad, where landslides wreaked havoc earlier this month. Of the Rs 110 crore collected till August 13 are stories of how a 76-year-old deferred her long-pending surgery, a fish vendor giving up his savings and two children breaking their piggy bank, among others.

The Calcutta High Court, on Tuesday, transferred the rape-and-murder case at the government hospital to the CBI after expressing displeasure at how it was being handled by the city police. From criticising the state government’s approach to the case to how it was being probed by the Kolkata Police, the High Court has asked the CBI to take over the case diary by 10 am today.

In an alarming incident in New Delhi’s Chanakyapuri area last week, a 25-year-old air hostess was allegedly molested by a rider from an app-based bike ride service, raising serious concerns about the safety of women in the capital (yet again!). The accused not only attempted to alter the route but also made advances towards her, suggesting she seek shelter with him under a tree when it began to rain. Here is what happened.

📌Must Read

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is a concept you’d expect to encounter in a political science classroom. So why does Sumana Roy, our columnist today, use it in a Creative Writing class to analyze Guru Dutt’s cinema? Just as Plato’s allegory challenges our understanding of illusion and perception, suggesting that they don’t always reveal the truth, Dutt’s films like Pyaasa challenge our habit of thought by exposing how commerce often overshadows and displaces both art and the artist.

Pakistan’s former intelligence chief, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, once a favoured general of Imran Khan and a potential Army Chief candidate, has been taken into military custody, and court martial proceedings have begun against him. Hameed, who served as the country’s top spymaster, faces accusations of corruption and questionable activities after his retirement. We  explain the case and his current whereabouts.

➡️ And Finally

History was made in the twilight hours of August 1947 when the Indian subcontinent gained independence, leading to the creation of India and Pakistan. As Pakistan celebrates its 78th Independence Day today and India prepares for its celebration tomorrow, we revisit how the fate of around 500 princely states under British Raj was decided. We explore why these semi-autonomous regions were a significant challenge for both countries, and why Pakistan ended up with so few of them.

Delhi Confidential: Why is the Delhi Police, as part of its Independence Day security arrangements, keeping a close watch on the IMD website? Well, to deploy kite catchers. Yes, that’s right. According to a senior officer, the wind is expected to blow from the northern direction on August 15, necessitating the strategic placement of the kite catchers.

🎧 3 Things Podcast: In today’s episode, Indian Express Executive Editor P. Vaidyanathan Iyer  breaks down the latest allegations by Hindenburg Research against the SEBI chief and her husband. Next, we discuss Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma once again targeting the minority Muslim community in the state by using the term ‘flood jihad’. And finally, why US astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are currently stuck in space.

Until next time,

Rounak Bagchi and Aradhana Kalia

Business As Usual By Unny

Front Page

- Bangladesh unrest | Some return PM house loot: Jewellery, cat, classified papers

- Dhaka to Delhi: Want to work closely, Hasina’s statements don’t help

- Oppostion trying to make another Bangladesh here: Mamata

- Congress leaders protest against govt school students wearing Savarkar T-shirts, booked

- Captain killed, civilian injured in Doda forest gunbattle, Army says ‘war like stores’ found

- Bangladesh unrest: Govt should have spoken out against quota earlier, met protesters, says Hasina son

- Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina seeks justice, calls for mourning on day father was killed

- Air hostess who took taxi bike allegedly molested by rider in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri

- When girls broke their piggy bank, an elderly woman her surgery fund to help Wayanad

- Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into doctor rape-murder case, expresses displeasure with investigation so far

Bangladesh unrest | Some return PM house loot: Jewellery, cat, classified papers

Protesters, mainly students, who had demanded her ouster have now started a campaign to “recover the looted items” and restore Ganabhaban (People's House), the official residence of the Bangladesh PM, to its past glory.

Written by Shubhajit Roy

Dhaka | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:37 IST

Smoke rising from Ganabhaban, the PM’s residence, which was stormed by public shortly after Hasina’s resignation. (Reuters/File)

LAST WEEK, after Sheikh Hasina resigned as Bangladesh Prime Minister and fled to India, photos and videos were circulated of people looting varied items — laptops, furniture, designer bags, saris, even a duck and fish — from her official residence.

Protesters, mainly students, who had demanded her ouster have now started a campaign to “recover the looted items” and restore Ganabhaban (People’s House), the official residence of the Bangladesh PM, to its past glory.

They began by issuing appeals on social media to people to return the items.

Some responded to their appeals. People came back with chairs, sofas, refrigerator, Apple iMac, MacBooks, iPhones, gym equipment, tables, an electric guitar, even some pigeons and a cat.

A man confessed that he had taken a duck and eaten it, so he gave money instead. An autorickshaw driver returned Bangladeshi Taka 1 lakh (about Rs 74,000) that he had taken from the drawers of the residence. Another person returned valuables and jewellery, including a diamond nose-pin and a pendant.

Protesters lying on a bed inside Ganobhaban.

“We were protesting against the Prime Minister and asking her to step down. People just entered and took away stuff out of excitement…and damaged the place. We are not looters, this is our national property and we want to restore this place to its past condition,” Shakib Arifin, the lead coordinator for the clean-up exercise tagged as the Ganabhaban ‘rebuilding’ committee, told The Indian Express.

A “collection counter” has been set up at the gate, where people have been dropping off some of the looted items. A group of volunteers keep a record of the items returned.

“Some people want to identify themselves, some don’t… some just say that they found it near their home…we don’t want to make it awkward for them, so we don’t press them for their identity details,” said Mohammad Moin, who is among those coordinating the ‘rebuilding’ effort.

The volunteers said they were not treating these people as “criminals”, and the fact that they were returning valuables showed their “integrity”.

Among the things that were returned were documents, including some marked confidential — classified defence and security-related papers — and accounts of the PM’s residence. “The documents are being kept in a safe room, guarded by Bangladesh Army personnel now,” said Hafizuddin Munna, a documentary filmmaker who is also a coordinator.

Among the images of the looting that went viral was a woman with a Dior suitcase. Munna said the woman has been “identified”. “She is a doctor, and we are going to reach out to her and recover the Dior suitcase,” he said.

“On June 5, people were excited and wanted to take away things as souvenirs… But we don’t want to destroy the place, we are against such activities, these were just ordinary people with pent-up anger…ora ullas korchhilo (they were celebrating) after Hasina quit and left the country,” said Arifin.

At last count, on Tuesday, Munna said they had recovered at least 450-500 items — including 120 types of furniture, about 70 electronic items, 150 mattresses. Volunteers reckon that an estimated 60 per cent of what was looted has been recovered.

“We are making a list and will submit it to the Bangladesh Army and the interim government led by Prof Yunus, before we hand over the place to the authorities,” he said. “We are also making a separate list of unusable (broken or damaged) items which can be sold off or dealt with separately.”

When The Indian Express visited Ganabhaban on Tuesday, volunteers were cleaning up the place. The lawn was covered with furniture — sofas, tables, chairs, refrigerator, bunk beds, mattresses, almirahs. Volunteers said the place was full of glass shards and broken furniture, and they had to repair the boundary wall at more than 60 places. At the entrance, there were damaged cars, a damaged motorcycle and a lawn mower.

Volunteers were still controlling access to the PM’s residence, with the Bangladesh Army providing perimeter security. Only those who had been assigned to clean up the place were allowed entry.

At the gate, some students asked the volunteers if they could enter. “Eta chiriyakhana naki (is this a zoo)?,” a volunteer responded, before shooing away the onlookers.

The volunteers are young men and women — from government universities, private colleges, madrasa students — mostly in their 20s, and some professionals in their late 20s and early 30s.

“After the euphoria and the emotional storm, it is now time to reform and rebuild Bangladesh… Why not start from Ganabhaban. After all, this is not Hasina’s personal property. This is our national property, built with the hard-earned money of the common people of Bangladesh. Now that we have got rid of the autocratic regime and regained our freedom for the second time, by cleaning up, recovering and restoring this place, we can show to the world that we are capable of rebuilding Bangladesh…and not destroying it,” said Ahsanul Kishore, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at a private university and one of the coordinators of the clean-up exercise.

Ganabhaban, a sprawling bungalow with manicured lawns and a water body, was designated the official residence of the Bangladesh Prime Minister after Hasina moved here in March 2010, a year after she was re-elected.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Dhaka to Delhi: Want to work closely, Hasina’s statements don’t help

This was the first time since the regime change in Bangladesh — after Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5 — that the Indian envoy met with the interim government.

Written by Shubhajit Roy

Dhaka | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:40 IST

High Commissioner of India Pranay Verma paid a courtesy call to the Adviser for Foreign Affairs of the interim Government of Bangladesh Md. Touhid Hossain. (Image source: ANI/Bangladesh Foreign Ministry)

The interim government of Bangladesh wants to work closely with India to promote bilateral relations, Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain said Wednesday, but added that deposed premier Sheikh Hasina’s public statements from India are “not conducive” towards that.

Hossain’s statement came after his meeting with Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pranay Verma. This was the first time since the regime change in Bangladesh — after Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5 — that the Indian envoy met with the interim government.

Underlining more “people- centric engagement,” after what he called the “second liberation,” Hossain flagged Sheikh Hasina’s statement issued Tuesday and said “such statements emanating from India (are) not conducive to fostering better bilateral relations”, according to a release from the Bangladesh Foreign ministry.

In her first public statement since her ouster on August 5, Hasina set the stage for a possible confrontation in Dhaka as she asked people to observe August 15 — the anniversary of the assassination of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — as “national mourning day” by placing wreaths at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum. This came on a day when the interim government had decided to cancel the national holiday on August 15.

With the Hindu minority in Bangladesh facing a string of attacks over the last week, Hossain, a former diplomat, also “affirmed (the) interim government’s commitment to ensure peaceful coexistence of different communities in Bangladesh including the minorities,” Dhaka’s readout of the meeting said.

According to the statement, Hossain mentioned that “the government is pledge-bound to ensure the safety and security of all religious and ethnic groups and will not tolerate any violence or intimidation against them. He added that all religious groups and other political parties are also working to ensure safety and security of the minorities.” He also referred to what he called “highly exaggerated media campaign about happenings in Bangladesh”.

Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, who is heading the interim government, had reached out on Tuesday with a visit to the Dhakeshwari Temple where he met community leaders and assured “justice” and “equal rights” for all.

Hossain “particularly stressed on some key issues like stopping border killing, conclusion of Teesta Water sharing Agreement, and ensuring supply of essential commodities” — referring to some thorny issues between India and Bangladesh, especially border killings and the Teesta pact.

Verma, according to the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry, “congratulated the Adviser for Foreign Affairs on his new responsibilities. He referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s good wishes to the Chief Adviser (Muhammad Yunus) and ‘expressed the keen willingness of the Government of India to work with the interim government in the coming days to fulfil the shared aspirations of peoples from both countries.” This formulation about “peoples” is a telling departure from the routine reference to government-to-government ties.

Hossain thanked “Government of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his good wishes extended to the Chief Adviser on his assumption of his new responsibilities”, and briefed the Indian envoy “about the current situation in Bangladesh”.

“He mentioned that Bangladesh witnessed a second liberation last week through a mass uprising spearheaded by valiant students. The combined forces of the students and people have emerged victorious against the forces of authoritarianism and repression in their quest for ending discriminations and inequities,” it said, referring to the Hasina government’s ouster.

Giving its account of the run-up to the ouster, the statement said that “the fearless student movement against a discriminatory public service recruitment system soon morphed into a nation-wide revolutionary struggle to establish a rules-based, just, fair and inclusive society. Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus agreed to take the helm of the interim government at the request of the students and people.”

Hossain said that the “most pressing task before this interim government is to bring normalcy to the overall law and order situation and bring the economy on track. The government is working on meaningful reforms and a lasting transformation to fulfil the aspiration of the people, especially the youth. The government is committed to ensuring a transition to inclusive and pluralistic democracy and create an atmosphere to hold free, fair and participatory elections,” it said.

A 1981-batch Bangladesh Foreign Service officer, Hossain, 69, was Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh from December 17, 2006 to July 8, 2009 during the caretaker government and the first six months of Hasina government. He has served as High Commissioner of Bangladesh to South Africa. Hossain was Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata from 2001 to 2005 — during the Khaleda Zia-led BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami government.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Oppostion trying to make another Bangladesh here: Mamata

Saying that her government had taken all possible action, she urged the protesting doctors to return to work.

Written by Atri Mitra

Kolkata | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:30 IST

Women at the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest in Kolkata on Wednesday. (Image: Partha Paul)

UNDER ATTACK from Opposition parties, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged a “coordinated” effort by the BJP and CPI(M) to politicise the rape-murder of the junior doctor.

Drawing parallels with the students’ unrest in Dhaka, she alleged attempts to “make a Bangladesh here”, adding that  she had “no longing for the chair”.

With the Calcutta High Court handing the probe to the CBI, Banerjee said the case should be solved and the culprits hanged “by Sunday”.

Addressing a rally in Behala, Banerjee accused the Opposition parties of maligning the state’s image. “A coordinated approach has been executed by the BJP and CPI(M), with support from the Centre, to defame Bengal and exploit the situation… They want to make a Bangladesh here. I have no longing for the chair. I came here to serve people,” she said.

Saying that her government had taken all possible action, she urged the protesting doctors to return to work.

“Under Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s tenure, many heinous crimes took place. Since there was no social media then, people remained unaware… In many states, including Delhi and Hathras in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, we saw what happened… I want to ask the Congress too, many incidents take place in your states, what action do you take,” she said. “Don’t try to politicise the incident just for a few likes on social media and media footage,” she added.

Women at the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest in Kolkata on Wednesday. (Image: Partha Paul)

Banerjee announced that the Trinamool Congress would hold a protest rally against the “Baam-Ram (BJP-Left) conspiracy to defame” West Bengal on August 17.

Saying that the Kolkata Police had arrested the main accused within 12 hours, she said: “I gave them time (to complete the probe) until Sunday, because they cannot arrest anyone without investigation. However, the HC ordered a CBI investigation. We have no problem. We also want the culprits to be identified and hanged.”

“I had assured her family that if others were found to be involved, we would arrest them too. The CBI should ensure this now. We demand capital punishment of the culprits by Sunday,” she said. “There are people running a smear campaign on social media. Abuse me as much as you want, but don’t abuse Bangla Maa,” she said.

Women at the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest in Kolkata on Wednesday. (Image: Partha Paul)

“I was in Jhargram when this incident took place. I spoke to the Commissioner of Police. I also spoke to the victim’s parents and assured them that police would investigate… and that I want capital punishment. I have stood by this. I visited their residence… I was monitoring through the night,” she said.

“We will follow the HC’s guidelines and are cooperating with the CBI. Thirty-four people had been summoned by the police and more people were on the list, but the HC intervened and transferred the case to the CBI. One of the best teams of the Kolkata Police was investigating the matter. We should be sensitive towards the family, instead of politicising the issue,” she said.

“I urge doctors to resume their duties. Three people have died, including a minor and a pregnant woman,” she said. “Following a probe by the health department within 48 hours, I transferred everyone. People have to understand that I cannot act without evidence,” she said.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Congress leaders protest against govt school students wearing Savarkar T-shirts, booked

The FIR registered at Chotila police station in the district also booked the five for allegedly disrupting the Yatra and deterring the principal and teachers of the primary school in Sangani village from discharging their duties.

Written by Gopal B Kateshiya

Rajkot | Updated: August 15, 2024 06:28 IST

Screen grab from purported video showing Lalji Desai talking to students wearing Veer Savarkar T-shirts in Sangani village, in Surendranagar on Wednesday. (Image source: Laji Desai/X)

Congress Seva Dal national chief organiser Lalji Desai and Gujarat Congress working president Rutwik Makwana were among five persons booked for allegedly protesting against a government school in Surendranagar whose students wore T-shirts with photographs of Veer Savarkar and Chanrashekhar Azad while participating in a Tiranga Yatra on Wednesday.

The FIR registered at Chotila police station in the district also booked the five for allegedly disrupting the Yatra and deterring the principal and teachers of the primary school in Sangani village from discharging their duties.

The FIR lodged on the basis of a complaint filed by school Principal Kalpesh Chauhan stated that the Congress leaders forced students and teachers to stop their march around 11 am when the Tiranga Yatra and Congress leaders’ Gujarat Nyaya Yatra crossed paths.

The police said the Congress leaders shot videos of the students wearing saffron-coloured T-shirts and circulated the same on social media.

The FIR quoted Chauhan as saying that Desai told them that “it was not fair to ask students to wear T-shirts with photo of RSS leader Veer Savarkar”.

“Don’t you feel ashamed to ask students to wear T-shirts of the very Veer Savarkar who was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi? Will you ask students to wear T-shirts of Nathuram Godse or some Rangabilla Dawood if I were to give you them tomorrow? Don’t demean independence by asking them to put on Veer Savarkar T-shirts,” Desai is reported to have told the principal.

The Congress march met the Tiranga Yatra while party leaders were marching on foot towards Sayla from Chotila town.

In his complaint, Chauhan said that some Congress leaders asked him and the teachers to direct the students to remove their T-shirts. Describing Savarkar and Azad as freedom fighters, the principal the T-shirts had been gifted to the school by the Indumati Vasantalal Charitable Trust, Mumbai.

“Laljibhai knows it well that such utterances can insult various sections of the society and freedom fighters,” Chauhan said in his complaint.

The five were booked under sections 197(1)(c) (promoting enmity between two communities) 197(1) (d) (make or publish false or misleading information, jeopardising the sovereignty, unity and integrity or security of India) 126(2) (wrongful restraint) 189(2) (unlawful assembly) 221 (voluntarily obstructing public servant from discharging his duties), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 353(2) (make, publishes or circulate any statement or report containing false information, rumour or alarming news, including through electronic means, with intent to create or promote, or which is likely to create or promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will between different groups) of the Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita.

Congress had started its fortnight-long Nyaya Yatra from Morbi on August 9 to demand justice for those killed in bridge collapse in Morbi, TRP Game Zone fire in Rajkot, Harni boat tragedy in Vadodara and Takshashila complex fire in Surat. The Yatra is scheduled to conclude in Gandhinagar on August 23 after passing through Rajkot, Surendranagar and Ahmedabad districts.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Captain killed, civilian injured in Doda forest gunbattle, Army says ‘war like stores’ found

According to sources, Captain Singh was leading the Army party from the front when he suffered gunshot injuries.

Written by Arun Sharma

Jammu | Updated: August 15, 2024 01:30 IST

The security forces have seized an M4 rifle and four bags from the encounter site (Express Photo)

AN ARMY Captain was killed and a civilian injured Wednesday in a fierce gunbattle between security forces and terrorists in Doda district’s Akar forests near the Patnitop hill station in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Nagrota-based White Knight Corps identified the officer who succumbed to injuries as Captain Deepak Singh.

In a post on X, it also said, “One terrorist has been neutralised in the ongoing operation” and “intermittent exchange of firing” was continuing. An AK-47, an M4 rifle and “war like stores” have been recovered.

The incident is the latest in a series of firefights and terror strikes in J&K, especially in the areas south of Pir Panjal, ahead of the Assembly polls expected next month in the Union Territory. The Chief Election Commissioner and his team have just returned to Delhi after conducting a review of the situation on the ground.

The Akar forests, which fall in the Assar area of Doda district, are not very far from the Chenani-Nashri tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. The gunbattle site is barely 2 km from the Batote-Doda national highway.

Captain Deepak Singh

Sources said one of the terrorists appeared to have been injured in the gunbattle because security forces and police found blood stains at the site. They seized an M4 and three bags left behind by the terrorists.

Sources said there was specific information about terrorists in the Akar forests and a search operation was launched in the area Tuesday night.

Captain Deepak Singh was leading the troops from the front and despite getting injured, he continued to engage the terrorists and also instructed the soldiers to cordon off the area, sources said.

“Search for the terrorists continues amidst heavy firefight. One officer has been injured while leading the search party. War like stores have been recovered as operations continue,” the Army’s Northern Command wrote on X earlier.

Born in 1999, Captain Deepak Singh was commissioned on June 13, 2020. He belonged to Dehradun. He is survived by his parents and two sisters, sources said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami posted on X: “My heartfelt tribute to Captain Deepak Singh ji, the brave son of the military land of Uttarakhand, who made the supreme sacrifice during an encounter with terrorists in Doda, Jammu and Kashmir. Your sacrifice in the service of Mother India will always inspire patriotism in the youth. I pray to God to grant a place to the noble soul in His feet and give strength to the bereaved family to bear this loss — Om Shanti.”

The officer’s body is expected to arrive in Dehradun Thursday for the last rites.

On Tuesday, Northern Army Commander Lt General M V Suchindra Kumar visited forward locations of the counter-insurgency Delta force in Doda and Kishtwar to review anti-militancy operations in the Chenab valley region of the Union Territory.

Lt Gen Kumar urged all ranks to maintain a high tempo of operations, ensuring security and safety for ongoing and upcoming events, the Northern Command posted on X. “He assessed the options for deployment of additional forces being inducted into the area and emphasised on synergy with Jammu and Kashmir police and paramilitary forces,” it said.

The presence of terrorists in forests so close to the highways has surprised many in the security agencies given that terrorists infiltrating from Pakistan had been moving in the upper reaches of Doda, Udhampur and Kathua districts. Police had recently released sketches of terrorists and announced cash rewards of Rs 5 lakh for “workable information” on each.

Since last month, Doda, Kathua and Udhampur districts have witnessed over half-a-dozen terror attacks, resulting in the death of nine soldiers including a Captain. Five foreign terrorists too have been killed by security forces and police in Doda and Kathua districts.

With inputs from ENS, Dehradun

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Bangladesh unrest: Govt should have spoken out against quota earlier, met protesters, says Hasina son

Since the time she fled Bangladesh, Hasina has been in India. “She's waiting to see how the situation unfolds in Bangladesh,” said Joy, adding that “most likely”, she will be in India for the time being.

Written by Ritika Chopra

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 10:06 IST

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (Wikimedia Commons photo)

Admitting that mistakes were made in handling the student protests, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told The Indian Express in an interview that the government should have engaged with the protesters from the very beginning and spoken out against the quotas much earlier.

“I believe our government should have spoken out against the quotas and met with the protesters from the beginning instead of leaving it to the courts… Our government filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to reduce the quotas. I recommended we take a public stance, stating the court made a mistake and we don’t want the quotas. But our government chose not to, expecting the judicial system to handle it,” said Joy, who served as IT adviser to Hasina and now lives in the US.

However, even as he acknowledged the mistake in hindsight, Joy added that he believes a foreign intelligence agency was behind the violent turn the protests took. “I firmly believe that a foreign intelligence agency was involved, especially because many of the demonstrators, starting from July 15, were armed with firearms. Firearms are very difficult to obtain in Bangladesh due to our successful control of militancy over the last 15 years. The only organisation capable of smuggling firearms into the country and supplying them to demonstrators would be a foreign intelligence agency,” he said.

Describing the events of the 24 hours leading up to his mother’s departure from Bangladesh on August 5, Joy said that even a day before the situation spiraled out of control, neither he nor Hasina anticipated how rapidly it would deteriorate. “She had no intention of leaving the country. She was going to resign, submit a resignation to the President, and announce it in a public statement. I believe she was drafting the statement and preparing to record an interview. Everything was planned. In fact, she was about to start recording when the special security said, ‘Ma’am, there’s no time. We have to go now’,” he said in a video interview from Washington DC.

He said Hasina was adamant on not leaving, but he convinced her to do so. “The special security force took her to a safe location inside the military air base, they had a helicopter ready for her, but she did not wish to go… that’s when my aunt (Sheikh Rehana Siddiq) called me. I convinced my mother that no, for your safety you have to leave. If this mob finds you, catches up with you somewhere and there’s shooting, lots of people will die. Either you’ll get blamed or, if they catch you, they will kill you. So your best option is to leave the country. And I’m the one who convinced her to leave,” he said.

Since the time she fled Bangladesh, Hasina has been in India. “She’s waiting to see how the situation unfolds in Bangladesh,” said Joy, adding that “most likely”, she will be in India for the time being.

Asked if she had plans to go elsewhere, he said: “She had to leave by helicopter, so the only destination was India, but after that, you know, it’s thanks to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s government that they responded quickly… to save her life and move her to a very secure location, so she is safe. But other than that, you know, all those questions that have been asked about her applying for asylum in various countries. Those are all rumors. They’re completely untrue. She has not applied for asylum anywhere.”

Asked what his message to India would be, he said he would urge Delhi to take a leadership role and ensure the Constitution of Bangladesh is upheld. “…especially this being on India’s doorstep… I would hope India would ensure that elections are held within the constitutional timeframe of 90 days, that the mob rule is stopped and that the Awami League is allowed to campaign and reorganise. If that is ensured, I’m still confident that we will win the election… We still remain the most popular party,” he said.

Asked if he would be travelling to India to meet Hasina, he said he would like to, but wasn’t sure when he would be able to make the trip.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Ritika Chopra

Ritika Chopra, an award-winning journalist with over 17 years of experience, serves as the Chief of the National Bureau (Govt) and National Education Editor at The Indian Express in New Delhi. In her current role, she oversees the newspaper's coverage of government policies and education. Ritika closely tracks the Union Government, focusing on the politically sensitive Election Commission of India and the Education Ministry, and has authored investigative stories that have prompted government responses. Ritika joined The Indian Express in 2015. Previously, she was part of the political bureau at The Economic Times, India’s largest financial daily. Her journalism career began in Kolkata, her birthplace, with the Hindustan Times in 2006 as an intern, before moving to Delhi in 2007. Since then, she has been reporting from the capital on politics, education, social sectors, and the Election Commission of India. ... Read More

Air hostess who took taxi bike allegedly molested by rider in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri

The incident took place around 11.45 pm on August 7. Around 11 pm, the woman booked a bike ride through inDrive to her home in Dwarka from Laxmi Nagar, where she had come to meet a friend, the police said.

Written by Arnabjit Sur

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 09:18 IST

The accused, identified as 35-year-old Jaiveer, was nabbed from Gurgaon within 12 hours of the incident. According to the police, he hailed from Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh and had been working with taxi bike service inDrive in Delhi for the past one year.

A 25-YEAR-OLD woman, who works as an air hostess, was allegedly molested by a rider of an app-based bike ride aggregator service in Chanakyapuri area of New Delhi last week, police said on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as 35-year-old Jaiveer, was nabbed from Gurgaon within 12 hours of the incident. According to the police, he hailed from Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh and had been working with taxi bike service inDrive in Delhi for the past one year.

The incident took place around 11.45 pm on August 7. Around 11 pm, the woman booked a bike ride through inDrive to her home in Dwarka from Laxmi Nagar, where she had come to meet a friend, the police said.

“According to the woman, the bike rider reached her pickup spot within 15 minutes of booking the ride. When she reached the Simon Bolivar Marg near Buddha Jayanti Park around 11.45 pm, the bike rider tried to change the route even while looking at the map on his phone, which the woman protested against,” a police officer said. “Soon, it started raining heavily and the rider asked the woman to get down and take shelter with him under a tree.”

The woman alleged that since the area was secluded, Jaiveer tried to molest her and started pulling her towards him. “The ordeal went on for a few minutes after which the woman raised an alarm,” the officer said. “A man driving a Scorpio noticed her and pulled up near the spot. He began honking the car horn. Following this, the rider fled in his bike. He was arrested in Gurgaon within 12 hours.”

The car driver offered to help the woman and dropped her at a nearby Metro station at her request. The woman then went to her friend’s house in Vasant Kunj. After she narrated the incident, the friend’s mother called up the PCR.

DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla said a case has been lodged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 74 (assaulting or using criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 76 (assaulting or using criminal force to any woman or abetting such act with the intention of disrobing) at Chanakyapuri Police Station.

After receiving a police intimation, inDrive suspended the rider’s registration. It stated that it “maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy towards any act and/or omission which is offensive and /or unlawful by any user and strongly condemns such behaviour”.

“At inDrive, our user safety and satisfaction, specifically women safety and experience, is always a top-most priority and we deeply regret and feel sorry for this incident experienced by our user,” a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson added that the app has a shield icon on the main screen for “quickly contacting support, calling the police or an ambulance”.

“In the app, everyone can save the phone number of a trusted person for quick contact in an emergency. Trusted numbers can be added at any time, even during the ride,” the spokesperson said.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

When girls broke their piggy bank, an elderly woman her surgery fund to help Wayanad

Among those who contributed to the CMDRF — Rs 110.55 crore, as of August 13 — are daily workers, students, widows and the elderly.

Written by Shaju Philip

Thiruvananthapuram | Updated: August 14, 2024 20:22 IST

Students from Manipur, who study in Kerala, hand over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh as Wayanad relief contribution

A 76-year-old decided her long-pending surgery could wait, a fish vendor gave up his day’s savings, two sisters agreed it was time to break their piggy bank — in the aftermath of the July 30 Wayanad landslide that tore through the hills of the north Kerala district, killing nearly 231 people and washing away homes and property, contributions such as these have been pouring in from across the state into the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMDRF). Nearly 130 landslide victims are still missing.

Among those who contributed to the CMDRF — Rs 110.55 crore, as of August 13 — are daily workers, students, widows and the elderly. Moved by the enormity of the tragedy and responding to the state government’s call seeking contributions for relief operations, they put their everyday lives and needs on hold and dipped into their meagre savings

At Chiyyaram in Thrissur, Class 7 student Sivanandana and her sister Shivanya, a Class 1 student, handed over to their parents the Rs 3,050 that they had collected over the past year. “They were mostly coins of Re 1, Rs 2 and 5 that I had given them. My elder daughter wanted to buy a new TV and the younger one a bicycle. They were moved by what they saw in Wayanad and Sivanandana said she wanted to contribute. Shivanya also agreed. Both of them agreed that the TV and cycle could be bought later,’’ says their father C S Saneesh, a goldsmith. The family lives in a 600-sq-foot house in the village.

Edathil Sreedharan, 64, a fish vendor at Panoor in Kannur, contributed his day’s collection of Rs 53,000 to the CMDRF. “I always watch TV news while eating… It’s a daily habit. But after watching news of the Wayanad tragedy, I just can’t eat anything… the food just won’t go down my throat. Giving up a day’s earnings is the least I can do. There are people who have lost everything in Wayanad,” he says.

Savithri L, 76, a native of Anad village in Thiruvananthapuram, donated Rs 25,000 — the money she had kept aside for a corrective surgery for her bow legs. “I had managed to save a little from my agriculture labour pension. I thought I would finally get the surgery done because the pain in my legs was getting unbearable. But when I saw photographs and videos from Wayanad, I thought their pain was much greater than mine. At least I get to eat three times a day. My surgery can wait,’’ she says.

The parents of Muhammad Fidel, a Class 2 student who suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, made a difficult decision — they decided to hand over their son’s savings of Rs 16,000 from the piggy bank to the CMDRF. “We were hoping to buy a car that can accommodate his wheelchair. He agreed to part with his piggy bank, where he saved his monthly disability pension amount (Rs 1,600). The car will have to wait. It was his decision to help the people of Wayanad,” says his mother Thasni. Her husband Noufal Shah works in the Gulf.

At Chembilode panchayat in Kannur, the 22-member Haritha Karma Sena, a women’s self-help group that collects non-biodegradable waste from houses, contributed Rs 40,000 to the CM’s Fund. Most of these women come from families that are below the poverty line and sell waste for recycling.

Haritha Karma Sena co-ordinator D Jisha says, “We had set apart 10% of our income for emergency situations — the treatment of a Sena member or her family, etc. We decided that we would contribute that money to the people of Wayanad. They deserve it more than anyone else.”

The CM Relief Fund has in the past received similar contributions during disasters and emergency situations, including floods, from people across Kerala and expatriates from the state in the Gulf and elsewhere.

During the Kerala floods in 2018 and 2019, too, people from across the state and beyond had contributed in huge numbers. The CM Relief Fund had collected Rs 4,970 crore during the floods and Rs 1,129 crore during the pandemic.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into doctor rape-murder case, expresses displeasure with investigation so far

Kolkata doctor rape-murder: The Calcutta High Court asked the West Bengal Police to hand over the case diary and other related documents to the CBI by Wednesday morning.

Written by Atri Mitra , Ravik Bhattacharya

Kolkata | Updated: August 14, 2024 09:14 IST

Nagarik samaj rally from Shyambazar. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)

Expressing displeasure over the handling of the case of the alleged rape and murder of a junior doctor at R G Kar Medical College and observing that “there appears to be no significant progress in the investigation”, the Calcutta High Court Tuesday transferred the probe from Kolkata Police to the CBI.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, said it would monitor the probe and the CBI would be required to submit a report to the court in three weeks.

The bench directed the Kolkata Police to hand over the case diary and other documents to the CBI by 10 am Wednesday.

Following the High Court order, sources in New Delhi said the CBI registered a fresh case after taking over the investigation and a team of forensic experts will leave Delhi to visit the spot to lift evidence. “Currently, we are assigning tasks to all the team members and will probe the case from all possible angles,” sources said.

Six pleas were filed in the High Court, including an appeal by family members of the victim whose body was found on August 9.

In transferring the case to the CBI, the bench said “it has become imperative and necessary for this Court to exercise its jurisdiction failing which the confidence in the public mind would be shattered”. This would also allay fears of petitioners regarding destruction of evidence.

The bench said there was no significant progress in the investigation even after five days of the incident.

“We are convinced to say so because even after a lapse of five days there appears to be no significant progress in the investigation, which ought to have happened by now and by further loss of time, we would be well-justified in accepting the plea raised by the writ petitioners, more particularly, the parents of the victim, that there is every possibility that the evidence will be destroyed and the witnesses will be influenced etc,” it stated.

Expressing displeasure over the manner in which the case was handled from the very beginning, the bench, in its order, stated: “One more aspect, which is also quite disturbing, is that a case of unnatural death has been registered with the Tala Police Station… It is submitted that under normal circumstances, a case of unnatural death is registered when there is no complaint. When the deceased victim was a doctor working in the hospital, it is rather surprising as to why the Principal/hospital did not lodge a formal complaint. This, in our view, was a serious lapse, giving room for suspicion.”

“The Principal of the institution, either by himself or by issuing appropriate directions, could have lodged a complaint with the police since the death occurred within the hospital premises. This, in our view, was a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the Principal and the officers under his command,” it stated.

It criticised the state government’s decision to transfer Sandip Ghosh, who resigned as principal of R G Kar Medical College, to a new post within hours – he was appointed principal of the National Medical College and Hospital. “It is not clear as to what was the tearing urgency,” it stated.

The bench gave Ghosh the option to submit a leave application by 3 pm Tuesday – he applied for 15-day leave.

“We have advised the learned advocate appearing for Professor Sandip Kumar Ghosh to direct his client to immediately proceed on leave, failing which the Court will be compelled to pass necessary orders. On oral instruction, the learned advocate submitted that his client will immediately proceed on leave. If such an application is submitted by Professor Sandip Kumar Ghosh, the same shall be accepted and he shall be granted extraordinary leave and not permitted to hold the post of Principal of the National Medical College and Hospital, Calcutta until further directions,” the order stated.

The bench appealed to protesting doctors to call off their agitation.

“We are truly appreciative of the feelings vented out by the doctors and the medical students and in particular, those at R G Kar Medical College & Hospital. However, we wish to observe that there is a pious obligation on the part of the doctors to treat their patients, more particularly the patients who come to the Government hospital, who are not from the affluent strata of society,” it said.

– With ENS from New Delhi

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

India

- Uttar Pradesh woman found murdered in Gurgaon, boyfriend held

- ‘140 crore Indians want Hindus, minorities to be safe in Bangladesh’: PM Modi in Independence Day speech

- Bangladesh News Live Updates: ‘140-crore people want Hindus, minorities to be safe in Bangladesh’, says PM Modi

- PM Modi Independence Day 2024 Speech Highlights: Civil code, safety of Hindus in Bangladesh, ‘Viksit Bharat’ feature in PM Modi’s address

- How school children from Kerala’s Kozhikode are using class breaks to help their peers in Wayanad

- Maoists kill 16-year-old boy for being ‘police informer’ in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district

- Independence Day 2024 Live Updates: Can feel the outrage over atrocities against women… state govts need to take it seriously, says PM Modi

- Grammy winner Ricky Kej’s rendition of India’s national anthem sets Guinness world record

- Supreme Court designates Indra Sawhney and 38 others as senior advocates

- Nalin Prabhat’s tenure as NSG chief cut short, sent to AGMUT cadre

- ISRO to launch SSLV’s last development flight on Aug 16

- Mamata protecting criminals, must resign: BJP

- Govt’s plan to control vegetable prices: New urban farming clusters to boost supply

- Who is Rahul Navin, the new full-time director of the ED

- 45% Indian-Americans went after 2010, median age below US average: Report

- Indian Army to procure cutting-edge tech to detect enemy drones near border areas

- President Murmu meets Indian Olympics contingent, hails players performance

- Protests against assaults on journalists in Bangladesh continue in Tripura

- EC reviews J-K security situation with Home Secy for holding Assembly polls

- Amid growing Ukraine threat, India issues advisory to nationals in Russia: ‘Temporarily relocate to safer areas’

- Full Text: President Droupadi Murmu’s speech on 78th Independence Day eve

- Over 800 birth certificates issued from single ID in UP village in 2 years, probe ordered

- Govind Mohan next Home Secretary, takes over from Bhalla; more key postings expected

Uttar Pradesh woman found murdered in Gurgaon, boyfriend held

The police found the body of the woman with an 'R' tattoo on her left arm lying beside near Ghamroj toll plaza in Bhondsi.

By: Express News Service

Gurgaon | August 15, 2024 10:30 IST

The police found the body of the woman identified as Kusuma, also known as Muskan, with an 'R' tattoo on her left arm lying beside the wall of a vacant plot near the toll plaza.

The police on Wednesday arrested a man in connection with the murder of his 22-year-old girlfriend, hailing from Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad, whose body was found near Ghamroj toll plaza in Gurgaon’s Bhondsi two days ago.

The police found the body of the woman identified as Kusuma, also known as Muskan, with an ‘R’ tattoo on her left arm lying beside the wall of a vacant plot near the toll plaza.

The accused Raja who was in a relationship with Muskan already has two cases registered against him in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad, said an officer.

The police said that Raja had accused Muskan of being involved in a relationship with another person.

Muskan, a resident of Firozabad, went to stay at her friend’s (Kajal) house for a few days in Bhondsi on August 8, said her relatives.

“On Sunday, Kajal informed us that Kusuma had left the house without informing anyone on Saturday night. We approached the police and we were informed that on Monday, an unidentified woman’s body was found. We visited the mortuary in Gurgaon, where, upon viewing the body, we identified it as my daughter,” said Geeta Devi, mother of the deceased, in her complaint registered at Bhondsi police station.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

‘140 crore Indians want Hindus, minorities to be safe in Bangladesh’: PM Modi in Independence Day speech

Bangladesh’s minority Hindus have faced more than 200 attacks in 50-odd districts since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5.

By: Express Web Desk

August 15, 2024 10:04 IST

According to Bangladesh’s 2022 census, a little more than 13.1 million Hindus reside in the country, making up for 7.96% of the country’s population. (File Photo: AP)

At a time when Hindus and minorities in Bangladesh have borne the brunt of numerous attacks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 78th Independence Day Thursday, called for peace.

“I hope things will soon be normal in Bangladesh. 140-crore people want that Hindus, and minorities there be safe. We want that our neighbouring countries tread the path of peace and happiness,” PM Modi said.

The PM added that India will always be supportive of Bangladesh’s growth and development.

Bangladesh’s minority Hindus have faced more than 200 attacks in 50-odd districts since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5. As policing collapsed, at least five people were reported killed in attacks on Hindu families, institutions, and temples.

According to Bangladesh’s 2022 census, a little more than 13.1 million Hindus reside in the country, making up for 7.96% of the country’s population. Other minorities (Buddhists, Christians, etc.) together constituted less than 1%.

In an attempt to reach out to the Hindu community, Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, who is heading the interim government, also reached out on Tuesday with a visit to the Dhakeshwari Temple where he met community leaders and assured “justice” and “equal rights” for all.

“Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge — what we were able to do and not do. If we fail, then criticise us,” Yunus said, after meeting minority leaders. He said the administration would work towards a situation where Hindus and other minorities don’t have to fear for their safety.

On August 8, as Yunus was sworn in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended his best wishes and urged him to ensure “the safety and protection of Hindus and all other minority communities”. This direct reference to the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh underlined Delhi’s expectations from the new players in Dhaka.

“In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why such issues arise. Institutional arrangements need to be fixed,” Yunus said on Tuesday. “We have to establish human rights and freedom of speech. That is our prime goal,” he said.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Bangladesh News Live Updates: ‘140-crore people want Hindus, minorities to be safe in Bangladesh’, says PM Modi

Bangladesh News Live Updates: Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain met with Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma.

By: Express Web Desk Updated: August 15, 2024 09:29 IST

Bangladesh News Live Updates: Bangladesh’s minority Hindus have faced more than 200 attacks in 50-odd districts. (Reuters)

Bangladesh News Live Updates: Addressing the nation on the eve of the 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the unrest in Bangladesh and hoped that the country returned to the path of peace and happiness. “I hope things will soon be normal in Bangladesh. 140-crore people want that Hindus, and minorities, there be safe. We want that our neighbouring countries to tread the path of peace and happiness. We will remain well-wishers of Bangladesh,” PM Modi said.

For context: Bangladesh’s minority Hindus have faced more than 200 attacks in 50-odd districts since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5. As policing collapsed, at least five people were reported killed in attacks on Hindu families, institutions, and temples.

Meeting with the Indian High Commission: The interim government of Bangladesh, led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, is eager to strengthen ties with India, remarked Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain in a meeting on Wednesday with Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma. However, he criticised former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent statements made during her time in India as “not conducive” to improving bilateral relations. The meeting marked a significant diplomatic engagement since Hasina’s ouster on August 5, when she fled to India amidst a student-led uprising.

Live Updates

09:42 (IST) 15 Aug 2024

Bangladesh News Live Updates: 'Govt should have spoken out against quotas, met with the protesters from the beginning ' says Hasina's son

Admitting that mistakes were made in handling the student protests, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told The Indian Express in an interview that the government should have engaged with the protesters from the very beginning and spoken out against the quotas much earlier.

“I believe our government should have spoken out against the quotas and met with the protesters from the beginning instead of leaving it to the courts… Our government filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to reduce the quotas. I recommended we take a public stance, stating the court made a mistake and we don’t want the quotas. But our government chose not to, expecting the judicial system to handle it,” said Joy, who served as IT adviser to Hasina and now lives in the US.

09:37 (IST) 15 Aug 2024

Bangladesh News Live Updates: What is the status of Hindus in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh’s 2022 census counted a little more than 13.1 million Hindus, who made up 7.96% of the country’s population. Other minorities (Buddhists, Christians, etc.) together constituted less than 1%. Muslims were 91.08% of Bangladesh’s 165.16 million people.

Read Arjun Sengupta's piece on the status of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

PM Modi Independence Day 2024 Speech Highlights: Civil code, ‘Viksit Bharat’ feature in address from Red Fort

78th Independence day speech highlights: PM Modi said his government has worked to break the mindset of living with status quo by rolling out big reforms aimed at changing the lives of the middle class and the poor.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 10:56 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation from the Red Fort on 78th Independence Day, in New Delhi, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (PTI Photo)

From ways and means to achieve the ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ goal to reforms brought about by the NDA government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of the 78th Independence Day, laid out a roadmap for the country for the coming years.

He said his government has worked to break the mindset of living with the status quo by rolling out big reforms aimed at changing the lives of the middle class and the poor.

Here’s what the Prime Minister said during the speech:

📌 Prime Minister Modi honoured those who sacrificed their lives for the country’s freedom. “The country is indebted to them,” he remarked, acknowledging the weight of the legacy left by India’s freedom fighters.

📌 The Prime Minister also took a moment to address the series of natural disasters that have recently struck various parts of the country. “Many have lost their families and loved ones in these calamities. Today, I extend my heartfelt sympathies to all those affected and assure them that we stand with them in this difficult hour,” he said.

📌 With less than 25 years to go until the country marks its centenary of independence, PM Modi underscored the government’s commitment to transforming the nation into a developed country by this landmark year. “Viksit Bharat 2047 are not mere words; they are reflections of the resolve and dreams of 140 crore people,” he emphasized, reiterating that this vision is shaped by the collective aspirations of the Indian populace.

📌 Viksit Bharat 2047: The Prime Minister also highlighted the overwhelming public input received for the ‘Viksit Bharat’ initiative. “People have given many suggestions to make India developed by 2047, including making the nation a manufacturing hub and ensuring seed capital availability,” he said. Other suggestions focused on governance reforms, speeding up the justice delivery system, and promoting traditional medicines, reflecting the diverse and forward-thinking aspirations of the citizens.

📌 Atrocities against women: In the wake of widespread protests across the country over the rape and murder of a medical student in Kolkata, PM also spoke about the issue of atrocities against women in the country and said he can feel the outrage of the people. “There is a need to widely publicise punishments given for atrocities against women so that there is a fear of consequence,” he said.

📌 Uniform Civil Code: “I believe we should discuss the civil code in the country. Discriminatory laws need to be abolished, and we should implement a secular civil code. We need to transition from a communal civil code to a secular one.” said PM Modi during his speech.

📌 Concerns over Bangladesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped that the situation in Bangladesh would improve soon even as he expressed concern over the safety of Hindus and other minorities in that country. Modi said India will always be supportive of Bangladesh’s growth and development.

📌 One Nation, one election: “From the Red Fort, I urge the political community to support the idea of “One Nation, One Election.” It is crucial for the nation to unite behind this initiative. Frequent elections create stagnation in the nation. Today, every scheme and initiative seems to be influenced by election cycles, and every action is colored by political considerations,” PM Modi said.

📌 Commitment to reforms: The Prime Minister took pride in the government’s unwavering commitment to reforms, which he described as essential not for temporary applause but to fortify the nation’s foundations. Citing the banking sector reforms as an example, he pointed out that Indian banks now rank among the strongest globally. “The path of reforms chosen by us has become a blueprint for growth and not just for debate clubs,” he asserted.

📌 Space sector and startups: PM also stressed how important the space sector is and noted that many changes have been made to improve it. He also mentioned that more startups are getting involved in this area. “Today, many startups are entering this sector. The space sector which is becoming vibrant is an essential element towards making India a powerful nation. We are focusing and giving strength to this sector with a long-term idea.”

📌 Revolutionizing education: Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that his government aims to develop an education system in India that would eliminate the need for young people to go abroad for their studies. “We want to build such an education system in India that youngsters do not need to go abroad to study. In fact we would want foreign students to come here and study,” he said. He also announced plans to add 75,000 new medical seats in the next 5 years, aiming to enhance the country’s medical education capacity and address the growing demand for healthcare professionals.

📌 Milestones and achievements: In his speech, PM Modi shared the significant milestones already achieved by his government. The Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide potable water to every household, has now reached an impressive 15 crore beneficiaries. He also touched upon the global promotion of millets, referred to as ‘Shri anna,’ stating, “People want ‘shri anna (millets)’ to reach every dining table in the world as a superfood.”

📌 National security: Addressing the nation’s security, PM Modi highlighted the pride felt by every Indian when the armed forces conduct surgical and air strikes. He reflected on the transformation in public expectations from the government, noting, “Earlier, people wanted change, but their aspirations were not paid heed to; we brought about big reforms on the ground.”

📌 PM Modi also highlighted the shift in governance over the past decade, where citizens no longer have to plead with the government for basic amenities. “Now, they get them at their doorstep,” he said, reflecting on the transformative change in service delivery.

📌 Climate change leadership: He announced that India is the only country among G20 nations to have met its climate targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement ahead of schedule. “I want to tell the world about the strength of my country’s people. My country and its people have accomplished what other G20 nations have not. We have met the climate targets set under the Paris Agreement ahead of schedule. India is the only nation among the G20 countries to do so, and we are proud of it,” he said.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

How school children from Kerala’s Kozhikode are using class breaks to help their peers in Wayanad

Jinarajadas Lower Primary School was on the brink of closure soon after the Marad riots of 2003-04. Today, its primary students are meticulously copying down three months’ worth of notes to help their peers in Wayanad, who have lost everything in the landslide.

Written by Shaju Philip

Thiruvananthapuram | Updated: August 15, 2024 10:51 IST

Indian Navy's disaster relief team conducts search and rescue operation at a landslide-hit area in Wayanad. (PTI Photo)

Lubna Raihana, a Class 4 student at the aided Jinarajadas Lower Primary School in the coastal Marad village of Kerala’s Kozhikode district, has had a busy few days. Every school break this past week, she and her classmates would quickly finish their food and then hurry back into class to complete a major task at hand: meticulously and painstakingly copying down notes for the first semester in new notebooks.

These notes, made under the guidance of their teachers, were meant for the 138 lower primary students of two government schools at Mundakkai and Chooralmala — the two villages most affected by the landslide last month.

Nearly closed down after communal riots tore through the serene fishing village of Marad 20 years ago, the Jinarajadas school is now scripting a chapter on compassion. Over the last week, these students were sorted into different groups to make notes in five subjects — Malayalam, English, Arabic, Maths and Environmental Science. While some students read out from their own notes, others copied it down while their teacher stood by, guiding and correcting them where needed.

Each class was tasked with making notes for their corresponding peers from the two government schools. The notes for the entire first semester, which ends by the end of August, were made ready for their peers in Wayanad since the landslide is expected to significantly disrupt their regular schooling.

Notes of all five subjects, now in a single bound book, will be handed over to the schools in Wayanad Thursday.

Said school headmaster E.M.Pushparajan: “These students have lost their study materials in the tragedy. Many agencies have offered to replace the lost textbooks, bags and other items. But their lost school notes could not be supplied in that manner. Hence, at our school, we decided to help them by preparing their school notes”.

The idea, according to teacher E.Dijesh Kumar, is to ensure that their learning is not lost.

But for students like Lubna, this is the only help they could give their peers in Wayanad. “We’re all saddened by the stories of our fellow students, who lost their dear ones and belongings in the landslide… When teachers told us about the plan, we were all in for it,’’ she said.

The 110-year-old Jinarajadas school had hit headlines after the Marad communal riots in 2003 and 2004, which left 14 people, both Hindus and Muslims dead. Soon after the riots, both communities were reluctant to send their children to school, pushing it to the brink of closure.

The school eventually went on to play a key role in bringing the strife-torn village back together by organising outreach programmes and camps.

In 2007, then Communist Party of India (Marxist) legislator and businessman VKC Mammed Koya took over the management of the school and upgraded its infrastructure. As the embers of the hatred cooled off over the years, attendance to the school also grew. Today, Jinarajadas LP School has a total of 450 students on its roll.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Maoists kill 16-year-old boy for being ‘police informer’ in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district

The boy was beaten to death on suspicion of being a police informer Tuesday evening, say police.

Written by Jayprakash S Naidu

Raipur | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:36 IST

Sukma Superintendent of Police Kira Chavan said Soyyam was still wearing his school uniform when he was killed at around 8-9 pm Tuesday. (Representational File)

A 16-year-old boy was allegedly beaten to death by Naxalites in Puarti village in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district late Tuesday evening.

According to the police, Soyyam Shankar was killed on suspicion of being a police informer. Significantly, over a dozen civilians have been murdered in Naxalite violence in Sukma this year. Puarti is a Naxal stronghold and home to at least two dreaded Naxal leaders — Barse Deva, chief of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), and his predecessor Madvi Hidma, now the Maoist commander-in-chief for South Bastar.

Sukma Superintendent of Police Kira Chavan said Soyyam was still wearing his school uniform when he was killed at around 8-9 pm Tuesday.

“His family had shifted to Palnar (in the neighbouring Dantewada) but he had gone to Puarti to meet his relatives to mourn the death of his sister-in-law,” Chavan said. The scene of the alleged incident is barely 3 km away from a new police camp in Puarti. The camp was made in February after security forces pushed a PLGA unit further back into the dense Sukma forest.

Soyyam’s body was brought to Sukma district headquarters, where a postmortem was conducted at the district hospital. An FIR for murder has been registered at Jagargunda police station, police said.

Puarti is a few kilometres from Tekulagudem, a site of several Naxalite encounters. On January 31, two elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) commandos and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan were killed in a gun battle between security forces and the PLGA in Tekulagudem.

In April 2021, 23 jawans were killed in an encounter with Maoists in the same forest.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Independence Day 2024 Live Updates: Can feel the outrage over atrocities against women… state govts need to take it seriously, says PM Modi

Independence Day 2024 Live Updates: In the wake of widespread protests across the country over the rape and murder of a medical student in Kolkata, PM also spoke about the issue of atrocities against women in the country and said he can feel the outrage of the people

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 11:11 IST

Independence Day 2024 Live Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation from the Red Fort on 78th Independence Day, in New Delhi, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (Express Photo)

Independence Day 2024 Live Updates: Following widespread protests over the rape and murder of a medical student in Kolkata, the Prime Minister spoke about the issue of violence against women in his speech today. He said that he understands and shares the public’s anger over such incidents. “The country, society, and state governments must address this matter with utmost urgency. There must be a swift investigation into crimes against women, and those responsible for these horrific acts should face strict punishment without delay,” he stated.

While addressing the nation on the 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said that the government plans to introduce 75,000 new seats in the medical sector in the next 5 years. “Every year, many children from our country go abroad to pursue medical education. To address this, we are introducing 75,000 new medical seats in the next five years,” he said. “Visit Bharat’ should also mean ‘Healthy Bharat.’ The first generation of a prosperous Bharat must be healthy, which is why we have launched the Poshan Mission,” Modi further stated.

Modi further said that ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ is more than just a phrase for a speech; it represents a significant commitment and effort. “If 40 crore people can break shackles of slavery to gain freedom, just imagine what can be achieved by the resolve of 140 crore people,” he said. He also spoke about the recent series of natural calamities that have affected many across the country. “In these natural disasters, people have lost their families and lives. Today, I express my deepest sympathies to all those affected and want to assure them that we stand with them in this difficult hour,” he said.

Live Blog

Independence Day Live Updates: As India celebrates its 78th Independence Day, watch this space to catch the latest news and updates from across the nation

11:11 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: What PM Modi said on the corruption issues in the country in his I-Day speech

In an oblique defence of central agencies acting against some Opposition leaders — Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is in jail while Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodiya are out on bail — Modi said citizens were tired of corruption and that he was waging a war against it.

“Every citizen is tired of corruption. We have waged a war on it and I have to pay a price for it, but there is no price to pay when it comes to the nation. My fight against the corrupt will continue,” he said. Taking what seemed a dig at the Opposition that has accused him of going after political opponents by misusing agencies for vendetta, Modi said, “Can anyone imagine that there are some people who are supporting corruption in broad daylight? This is a major challenge.”

10:55 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: PM gives a call to bring 1 lakh youth into the country's political system

In his I-Day speech PM Modi gave a call to bring 1 lakh youth into the political system, specifically those with no history of politics in their families.

He said this initiative was aimed at fighting the evils of nepotism and casteism and inducting fresh blood into India's polity.

10:44 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: PM Modi emphasizes on importance of green jobs in India's efforts to combat climate change

In his Independence speech today, PM Modi emphasized the importance of green jobs in India's efforts to combat climate change.

He stated that the focus of the country is now on green growth and green jobs, which will generate employment opportunities while contributing to environmental protection.

The Prime Minister reiterated India's commitment to becoming a global leader in green hydrogen production and creating sustainable employment opportunities in environmental conservation and renewable energy sectors.

10:33 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: India should become a leader in global gaming market, says PM Modi

In his Independence speech today, PM Modi said that India must leverage its rich ancient legacy and literature to come up with Made in India gaming products.

He added that Indian professionals must lead the global gaming market, not just in playing but also in producing games, stating that Indian games should make their mark worldwide.

10:24 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: PM Modi talks about reviving 'Nalanda Spirit' in his I-Day speech

In his Independence Day speech on Thursday, the Prime Minister emphasized the revival of the ancient Nalanda University spirit, aiming to establish India as a global education hub through the promotion of higher learning and research. This vision builds on the recent inauguration of Nalanda University in 2024.

10:20 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: PM Modi make fresh pitch for 'one nation, one election'

PM Modi on the occassion of Independence Day made a fresh pitch for having 'one nation, one election’ stating that frequent elections created hurdles in the progress of the nation.

"Frequent elections are creating hurdles in the progress of the nation. It has become easy to link any scheme/initiative with elections. There are elections somewhere every three to six months. Every work is linked to elections," he said.

The prime minister urged political parties "from the Red Fort and with the national tricolour as a witness to ensure the nation's progress".

10:02 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: India’s 78th Independence Day: 10 interesting facts about the our National Flag

India’s Independence Day, celebrated annually on August 15, commemorates India officially gaining independence from British colonial rule on 15 August 1947, following the enactment of the Indian Independence Act, marking a significant milestone and reshaping the country’s identity and destiny.

As our flag symbolises national pride and unity, let’s reflect on the historical context, the evolution of the national flag, and ten intriguing facts about it. (Read More)

10:00 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: 'India can become the organic food basket of the world,' says PM in his I-Day speech

In his I-Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the urgent need to transform the agricultural sector and highlighted the government's comprehensive efforts to improve the lives of farmers.

He said the government has launched programmes to encourage natural farming, and budget allocations too have been increased to promote such farm practices.

Modi expressed confidence that India can become the organic food basket of the world. "It is very important to transform our agriculture system. This is the need of the hour," he said.

09:49 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: PM Modi congratulates all Olympic players, says it’s India’s dream to host 2036 Olympics

'On behalf of 140 crore people, I would like to congratulate all the players. We will move forward to achieve new goals. In upcoming days, teams will depart for the Paralympics in Paris. I want to give best wishes to them as well,' said PM Modi in his I-Day speech today.

'India organised the G20 Summit in India and hosted over 200 events across the nation. It proved that India has the ability to organise big events. As this has been proven, it is now India's dream to host 2036 Olympics in India and we are preparing for that,' says PM Modi,' he further said.

09:38 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live: Large number of global companies want to invest in India, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his I-Day speech stated that numerous global companies are eager to invest in India and urged state governments to compete with one another to attract these investments.

"It's a golden opportunity" to make India a hub of global manufacturing, he said, and called upon state governments to make polices to attract investment, while ensuring good governance and law and order.

Modi also said the country needs to work on "Design In India" and "Design for the World".

09:30 (IST)15 Aug 2024

78th Independence Day Live: Govt will build such an education system so that youngsters need not go abroad, says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that his government aims to develop an education system in India that would eliminate the need for young people to go abroad for their studies.

"We want to build such an education system in India that youngsters do not need to go abroad to study. In fact we would want foreign students to come here and study," he said.

The prime minister also announced that an additional 75,000 medical seats will be created in the next five years.

"Even today, children, mostly belonging to the middle class, are going abroad for medical education. They spend lakhs and crores on medical education abroad. Around 25,000 youths every year go abroad for medical education and they go to such countries, I get surprised when I hear about them."

09:23 (IST)15 Aug 2024

78th Independence Day Live: India only G20 nation to achieve climate targets under Paris Agreement ahead of schedule

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India is the only country among G20 nations to have met its climate targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement ahead of schedule.

"I want to tell the world about the strength of my country's people. My country and its people have accomplished what other G20 nations have not.

"We have met the climate targets set under the Paris Agreement ahead of schedule. India is the only nation among the G20 countries to do so, and we are proud of it," he said.

09:13 (IST)15 Aug 2024

78th Independence Day Live: What PM Modi said about 'One Nation, One Election' in his Independence Day Speech

"From the Red Fort, I urge the political community to support the idea of "One Nation, One Election." It is crucial for the nation to unite behind this initiative. Frequent elections create stagnation in the nation. Today, every scheme and initiative seems to be influenced by election cycles, and every action is colored by political considerations," PM Modi said.

09:12 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: 'We need to transition from a communal civil code to a secular civil code,' says PM

I believe we should discuss the civil code in the country. Discriminatory laws need to be abolished, and we should implement a secular civil code. We need to transition from a communal civil code to a secular one.

09:03 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: What PM Modi said about the Bangladesh crisis in his speech

"I hope things will soon be normal in Bangladesh. 140-crore people in India want taht Hindus and minorities there be safe. We want our neighbouring countries to tread the path of peace and happiness. We will remain well-wishers of Bangladesh," the PM said.

08:46 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: PM Modi mentions Lakhpati Didi scheme in his I-Day speech

On the 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi addressed the nation from the Red Fort and praised advancements in women’s empowerment.

He compared the global success of Indian CEOs to the achievements of women in self-help groups, noting, “While our CEOs gain global recognition, one crore women are becoming Lakhpati Didis.” Modi also announced that the government plans to allocate between Rs 10 and 20 lakh to these groups.

“To date, Rs 9 lakh crore has been provided to support women’s self-help groups,” he added.

08:44 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: What PM Modi said about the banking sector of India

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted that Indian banks are now among the strongest globally, thanks to significant reforms by his government.

"Just imagine what was the condition of our banking sector. There was no growth, no expansion, and there was no faith (in the banking system). Our banks were going through difficult times...We took big reforms to make the banking sector strong. Today, because of the reforms, our banks are among the few strong banks globally," Modi said.

Modi stressed that a strong banking system is essential to meet the needs of the middle class, farmers, homebuyers, startups, and the MSME sector.

08:40 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: PM Modi announces 75,000 new seats in medical colleges in 5 years

While addressing the nation on the 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said that the government plans to introduce 75,000 new seats in the medical sector in the next 5 years. “Every year, many children from our country go abroad to pursue medical education. To address this, we are introducing 75,000 new medical seats in the next five years,” he said. “Visit Bharat’ should also mean ‘Healthy Bharat.’ The first generation of a prosperous Bharat must be healthy, which is why we have launched the Poshan Mission,” Modi further stated.

08:25 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: 'Our goal is to reach new heights of progress together', says PM Modi

"For the third consecutive time, you have given us the opportunity to serve the nation. This means a responsibility to serve every family and community across the country. Today, I want to thank you so much for this blessing and assure you that we will move forward with renewed vigour. Our goal is to reach new heights of progress together," said PM Modi

08:21 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: What PM Modi said about the space sector in his Independence Day Speech

PM Modi said that the space sector is very important and that many reforms have been made. He also mentioned that more startups are getting involved in this area.

"Today, many startups are entering this sector. Space sector which is becoming vibrant is an essential element towards making India a powerful nation. We are focusing and giving strength to this sector with a long-term idea."

08:15 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: 10 crore women joining self-help groups has helped boost their financial independence, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Modi noted that in the last ten years, 10 crore women have joined self-help groups, which is helping them become financially independent. He said, "Financially independent women can contribute to household decisions, leading to positive social changes. So far, we have provided 9 lakh crores to these self-help groups."

08:02 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: ' In the past, people had to endure a ‘mai-baap’ culture, but we transformed governance model,' says PM

While addressing the nation on the occasion of the 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said that the banking sector plays a crucial role for the middle class, providing loans for education and business ventures.

"I am pleased to see that now even fishermen and farmers are benefiting from banking loans," he said.

"Unfortunately, in the past, people had to endure a ‘mai-baap’ culture, where they had to plead with the government for every necessity. Today, we have transformed this governance model. The government is now actively involved in youth skill development and is taking steps to improve access to essential services, such as installing gas connections and water connectivity directly in people's homes," said PM Modi.

07:58 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: Our motto is ‘Nation First', says PM from Red Fort

While addressing the nation on the occasion of the 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said, "Some people question why we should work for future generations. However, many across the country have long awaited significant reforms. When we came to power, we made the decision to advance major reforms aimed at transforming lives. I want to assure the public that these reforms are not merely for temporary attention; they are designed to strengthen the nation. That is why I can confidently say that today, these reforms have become the blueprint for our growth."

Our Motto is ‘Nation First’, he said.

07:51 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: From Red Fort, PM Modi reiterates Viksit Bharat goal by 2047, says, ‘140 crore people must move together in one direction

At the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi declared, "We take immense pride in being the descendants of the 40 crore people who ended colonial rule in India. Today, as a nation of 140 crore, if we unite with a shared resolve and move in a single direction, we can achieve 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, overcoming all obstacles in our path."

07:47 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: Viksit Bharat 2047’ is more than just a phrase for a speech, says PM Modi

While addressing the nation on the occasion of the 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said, "Viksit Bharat 2047’ is more than just a phrase for a speech; it represents a significant commitment and effort. We are actively working towards this vision and have sought input from citizens to shape it. The dreams and aspirations of every individual—whether young or old, urban or rural, including farmers and Dalits—have been integrated into this vision.

"Reading their advice has been immensely encouraging. People envision India as the global skill capital and as a leading global manufacturing hub."

07:43 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: It is the day to pay tribute to the countless 'Azaadi ke deewane' who sacrificed their lives for the nation, says PM

While addressing the nation on the occasion of the 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said, "Today is a day to pay tribute to the countless 'Azaadi ke deewane' who made sacrifices for our nation. This country is deeply indebted to them."

07:42 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day 2024 Live: PM Modi unfurls the national flag; expresses solidarity with victims of recent natural calamities

On the occasion of India’s 78th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurled the national flag at the Red Fort. In his address, he spoke about the recent series of natural calamities that have affected many across the country. “In these natural disasters, people have lost their families and lives. Today, I express my deepest sympathies to all those affected and want to assure them that we stand with them in this difficult hour,” he said.

07:31 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live Updates: 'Doors of India': Special Google doodle marks India's 78th Independence Day

On Thursday, Google, the search engine giant, celebrated India's 78th Independence Day with a special doodle featuring traditional doors. In the digital artwork, each letter of the company's name—'G', 'O', 'O', 'G', 'L', and 'E'—is illustrated on a door adorned with a unique and ornate design. Google India also shared a note about the doodle on its website.

"Today's Doodle, illustrated by Vrinda Zaveri, celebrates Independence Day in India! On this day in 1947, India gained its freedom from colonial rule," the internet giant said in the note.The people of India strongly desired "self-governance and sovereignty after nearly two centuries of inequality, violence, and lack of fundamental rights".

07:20 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Express Explained | Why the Red Fort became the venue for the PM’s Independence Day speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the tricolour and addressed the nation from the Red Fort in Delhi, early morning on August 15, on the occasion of India’s 78th Independence Day.Jawaharlal Nehru first started the tradition in 1947, although his address was on August 16, a day after the official handover of power. In his speech, he memorably called himself the pratham sevak of India.Over the years, the Red Fort has become an integral part of India’s Independence Day celebrations, often capturing the mood of the nation and the government in power.

But why was Red For chosen for this honour? To understand this, first a brief history of how Delhi became the seat of power in India. (Read More)

07:12 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live Updates: PM Modi set to deliver his 11th Independence Day address today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to deliver his 11th Independence Day address, from the ramparts of the Red Fort this morning.

07:10 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live Updates: Ministers and others dignitaries have started arriving at the Red Fort

The minister and other dignitaries have started arriving at the Red Fort ahead of the Prime Minister's speech today. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, HD Kumaraswamy, Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena, Kiren Rijiju were amongst the many seen arriving at the venue.

07:07 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Independence Day Live Updates: PM Modi greets everyone on Independence Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday greeted the people of the country on the occasion of the 78th Independence Day.

“Independence Day greetings to my fellow Indians. Jai Hind!” he wrote on X.

07:04 (IST)15 Aug 2024

Express Opinion | Shanta Gokhale writes: On Independence Day, of freedoms and unfreedoms

I was exactly six when India became a free country. What a day that was. Memory being what it is, I only remember the mad exultation all around and three close-knit families from the neighbourhood piling into a large van to go see the lights in south Bombay. Victoria Terminus all lit up. The Municipal Corporation too. The Old Lady of Bori Bunder? I’m not sure. What I do remember is thousands of people milling around, grinning without reason.

Winning independence for the country was not winning freedom for citizens. That happened only three years later. I was nine when the Constitution of India came into force and we were granted the rights to equality, freedom of religion, cultural practice, education and, most importantly, to freedom of speech and expression. This is the freedom I fight for as a journalist and writer. This is the freedom at whose altar Salman Rushdie lost precious years of his life being ‘protected’ and, decades later, his right eye.

(Read the full article here)

NCC Cadets march ahead of Independence Day, in Mumbai. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Centre announces 1,037 police service medals

The Central Government on Wednesday announced 1,037 service medals for the personnel of Central and state police forces, including 208 medals for gallantry, on the eve of Independence Day. Of the gallantry awards, 52 have gone to the personnel deployed in the Left wing extremism-affected areas, 31 to those in the Jammu and Kashmir region. Besides, 17 personnel each from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have also been selected for the gallantry awards.

The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday morning published the list of names of personnel chosen for the Medal for Gallantry, President’s Medal for Distinguished Service, Police Medal for Meritorious Service and President’s Medal for Gallantry.

Ahead of Independence Day

India will celebrate its Independence Day on August 15, at a time when reminders are coming in from the neighbourhood of the vital task of guarding against unfreedom. Even economic progress is no guarantee of immunity against democratic backsliding — under Sheikh Hasina, per capita income in Bangladesh was higher than in India and other south Asian countries.

The implosion in Bangladesh underlines the Indian exception in terms of institutionalising democracy in a region that seems to provide fertile ground for autocracy and military dictatorships. And yet, there is no room for self-congratulation. Democracy’s roots, even when they are deep, need to be watered daily.

In a sense, the 2024 electoral verdict, which took away a comfortable majority from the ruling party and carved out standing-room-only for the Opposition, provides an apt setting for this I-Day. It casts the onus on both government and Opposition to prove themselves anew, to lower their voice and act with humility. Read More

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Grammy winner Ricky Kej’s rendition of India’s national anthem sets Guinness world record

The rendition features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from the UK and a choir of 14,000 tribal children from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences.

By: Express Web Desk

Updated: August 15, 2024 07:56 IST

The achievement follows Kej’s previous success in 2023. (rickykej.com)

On the eve of India’s 78th Independence Day, Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej unveiled a spectacular new rendition of the Indian National Anthem, featuring an impressive collaboration of artists and a Guinness World Record.

Kej shared the release of the anthem on social media platform X with the caption, “Honored to share my epic rendition of our National Anthem of India (Bharat)… We even won a Guinness World record.”

This rendition brings together top classical musicians from both North and South India, including renowned figures like Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Amaan & Ayaan Ali Bangash, and Rahul Sharma.

It also features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from the UK and a choir of 14,000 tribal children from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences.

Honored to share my epic rendition of our National Anthem of India (Bharat). Featuring top legendary Indian musicians – a 100 piece British Orchestra and a choir of 14000 tribal children! We even won a Guinness World record :-)

Please share, watch, use, but with respect :-) It… pic.twitter.com/7XASJZ8hxC

— Ricky Kej (@rickykej) August 14, 2024

Kej’s project is more than just a musical achievement; it symbolizes unity and diversity. The video, which includes a performance by a 100-piece British orchestra, features 14,000 children forming the map of India and the word “Bharat” in both Hindi and English.

In a statement to ANI, Kej reflected on the project’s significance: “The national anthem was the first piece of music I ever learnt as a child. We brought together the best classical musicians from India to create a beautiful interpretation, and organized 14,000 students to sing the anthem in four-part harmonies.”

The achievement follows Kej’s previous success in 2023, where he led the largest-ever Symphony Orchestra performance of the Indian National Anthem at Abbey Road Studios, London.

Kej’s new rendition is a tribute to every Indian and aims to inspire patriotism and national pride.

“Please share, watch, use, but with respect :-) It is yours now, my humble gift to every Indian everywhere. Jai Hind! Happy #IndependenceDay2024,” he wrote.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Supreme Court designates Indra Sawhney and 38 others as senior advocates

The 1992 precedent limiting reservation to 50% is now politically fraught, with questions raised on why there should be a judicial mandate for a ceiling at all.

Written by Apurva Vishwanath

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 06:14 IST

Last year, 138 lawyers had applied for the designation while 71 were shortlisted and invited to an interview.

INDRA SAWHNEY, who lent her name to the landmark 1992 ruling that put in place the 50% ceiling for reservation, was on Wednesday designated by the Supreme Court as a senior advocate along with 38 others.

“I’ve been practising regularly but I applied for the designation now, after a lot of encouragement from my peers,” Sawhney, 73, told The Indian Express.

In her 49th year at the Bar now, Sawhney, as a 39-year-old lawyer, had filed the first petition in 1990 against the Mandal Commission report.

“I was stuck in a students’ rally during the agitation and it moved me to do something for them. But I never expected my filing of the case would etch my name on this issue,” Sawhney said. “There were many others who contributed, of course. The case went from a two-judge bench to three-, five-, seven- and then nine-judge benches.”

The 1992 precedent limiting reservation to 50% is now politically fraught, with questions raised on why there should be a judicial mandate for a ceiling at all.

Along with Sawhney, 38 other advocates, including nine women advocates, were designated as senior counsel. Among them are BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj; Additional Advocate General for Punjab Shadan Farasat; former Uttar Pradesh standing counsel M R Shamshad; advocates on record Dr Anindita Pujari, Aparna Bhat, K Parameshwar and Ashok Panigrahi.

In recognition of their standing in the Bar, the court confers the senior advocate designation on advocates. While senior advocates do not solicit clients or take on work directly, they are often engaged by other advocates to argue critical questions of law.

Last year, 138 lawyers had applied for the designation while 71 were shortlisted and invited to an interview.

In 2017, the process of conferring the designation was challenged on the grounds of arbitrariness by senior advocate Indira Jaising. Following the challenge, the court evolved an objective criteria, which was revised in 2023.

The committee for designation is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises two senior-most judges of the SC, the Attorney General for India apart from a member nominated by the CJI and the Bar. An advocate needs to have a minimum 10 years in the Bar and must practice mainly before the Supreme Court to be considered for the designation.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Nalin Prabhat’s tenure as NSG chief cut short, sent to AGMUT cadre

The decision came over three months after the senior IPS officer was appointed as the NSG DG. Earlier, the ACC had approved his appointment as the NSG DG until August 31, 2028.

Written by Mahender Singh Manral

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 06:14 IST

Nalin Prabhat (Image Source: X)

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Wednesday sanctioned the inter-cadre deputation of Nalin Prabhat, Director-General of the National Security Guard (NSG), from the Andhra Pradesh to Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre for a tenure of three years.

The decision came over three months after the senior IPS officer was appointed as the NSG DG. Earlier, the ACC had approved his appointment as the NSG DG until August 31, 2028.

In an order issued on August 14, a government under-secretary (MHA) said: “The undersigned is directed to convey approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for… the curtailment of Nalin Prabhat’s tenure as the NSG DG… inter-cadre deputation of Prabhat from Andhra Pradesh to AGMUT cadre, initially for a period of three years from the date of joining the AGMUT cadre or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in relaxation of inter-cadre deputation guidelines. It is requested that Prabhat, NSG DG, may be relieved immediately to enable him to join the AGMUT cadre.”

Before joining the NSG, Prabhat, a 1992-batch IPS officer, worked as an additional director general in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and had headed its formation in J&K.

According to a source from the national counter-terrorism force ACC, the Centre is considering appointing Prabhat the new Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir, amid the rising terror attacks in the Jammu region since June 9, including many that inflicted casualties on security forces.

Last week, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had appointed R R Swain as the DG of J&K Police, until September 30; he had been holding the additional charge of the DGP post.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Mahender Singh Manral

Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security. Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat. During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read More

ISRO to launch SSLV’s last development flight on Aug 16

ISRO is now in the process of transferring the technology to private players to undertake commercial flights. There are at least six companies that are in the running to acquire the technology.

Written by Anonna Dutt

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:26 IST

The EOS-08 will also demonstrate several technologies developed by the space agency. The satellite will carry three instruments.

THE INDIAN Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the third development flight — the last one it is authorised to undertake — of the small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) on August 16. The vehicle will carry the 175-kg earth observation satellite EOS-08 on board, according to the space agency.

The small vehicle — capable of carrying only up to 500 kg to space — was developed by ISRO with the aim of commercialising it. Globally, there is a growing demand for small launch vehicles that can be quickly assembled on demand to launch scores of small and micro-satellites to be placed in low earth orbit.

ISRO is now in the process of transferring the technology to private players to undertake commercial flights. There are at least six companies that are in the running to acquire the technology.

All future missions of the SSLV will be carried out by the private company chosen, according to ISRO officials. In fact, ISRO’s commercial arm New Space India Limited (NSIL) signed an MoU to launch an Australian satellite on-board such a privately run SSLV in the future. The planned mission will take to space a satellite that can repair others in-orbit by the Australian company Space Machines Company.

The vehicle is just 2 metres in diameter and 34 metres long. It uses three solid fuel-based stages and a final liquid-fuel based stage to correct the velocity for placing small and micro satellites in orbit.

After a narrow miss during the first development flight of the vehicle in August 2022, it managed to successfully insert three satellites in a 450-km circular orbit in February 2023.

According to the failure analysis of its first development flight, the intended orbit could not be achieved because of excessive vibrations recorded by the on-board accelerometers during stage 2 separation, which led the on-board system to think that the sensors were faulty.

With the system designed to isolate faulty sensors and go into a salvage mode, the last velocity-trimming module was not switched on as per the programming. This led to a shortfall in velocity and the satellites were injected in a highly elliptical orbit that cannot be maintained and they fell into the atmosphere.

The satellite

The EOS-08 will also demonstrate several technologies developed by the space agency. The satellite will carry three instruments. The Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR) is designed to capture images in mid-wave and long-wave infra-red during day and night.

The data can be used for surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation, and industrial and power plant disaster monitoring.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

Mamata protecting criminals, must resign: BJP

He said that the failure to register an FIR, the delay in showing the victim's body to her family, and the protection of the medical college principal indicated "the involvement of Mamata Banerjee's government in the case".

By: Express News Service

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 03:02 IST

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

The BJP said Wednesday that it was West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s moral duty to step down, with party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accusing her of protecting criminals, leading to the High Court’s decision to transfer the investigation of the trainee doctor’s rape and murder case in a Kolkata hospital to the CBI.

He said that the failure to register an FIR, the delay in showing the victim’s body to her family, and the protection of the medical college principal indicated “the involvement of Mamata Banerjee’s government in the case”.

‘Nir-Mamata Banerjee’ needs to answer several questions, as women in West Bengal and across India want to know why, when Mamata Banerjee should have stood with the victim’s family, she was instead busy safeguarding the culprits. The Calcutta High Court’s observation has exposed the “Jungle Raj” under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership,” Bhatia said.

He asked why the state government delayed handing over the case to the CBI for a proper investigation of the crime scene, adding that the delay in Banerjee’s action “has led to the tampering and destruction of evidence”. He said that no FIR was timely registered and the police labeled it as an unnatural death.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Govt’s plan to control vegetable prices: New urban farming clusters to boost supply

According to sources, the Agriculture Ministry is in the process of drawing up contours of the scheme, which is expected to be finalised and approved by the Union Cabinet soon.

Written by Harikishan Sharma

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 09:39 IST

Under the scheme, support will be provided to select implementing agencies, decentralised cold storage facilities, procurement of vending trucks/vans and for fruit and vegetable processing, a source said.

The Centre plans to develop 50 vegetable clusters near cities having over 20 lakh population over the next five years with an investment of `2,000 crore to ramp up vegetable production and supply chains through public private partnership.

According to sources, the Agriculture Ministry is in the process of drawing up contours of the scheme, which is expected to be finalised and approved by the Union Cabinet soon.

According to a source, the scheme is expected to benefit over 2 lakh farmers near big cities and aimed at providing remunerative prices to them while curbing the role of middlemen. It also aims to ensure uninterrupted supply of fresh vegetables at reasonable prices to consumers, the source said.

The scheme will engage Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and cooperative bodies to control volatility in prices and supply of tomato, onion and potato. When there is glut in the market, the crop does not fetch a good price for farmers, and during shortage, consumers feel the heat of price rise, the source said.

Data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) Monday showed that the food inflation rate slipped to a 13-month low of 5.42% in July, from 9.36% in June. Food inflation has hovered between 8-9% during the last eight months as prices of vegetables, cereals and pulses have stayed consistently elevated. Among food items, the inflation rate of vegetables eased to 6.83% in July from 29.32%.

In her Budget speech on July 23, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed setting up vegetable clusters near big cities for ramping up production and supply chains. “Large-scale clusters for vegetable production will be developed closer to major consumption centres. We will promote Farmer Producer Organisations, cooperatives and start-ups for vegetable supply chains including for collection, storage, and marketing,” Sitharaman had said.

A source said the clusters, to be developed in partnership with implementation agencies from private sector, FPS and cooperative bodies for fresh vegetables, would be set up in a radius of 50 km from cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad among others. Consumers can buy vegetables in their locality from retail shops and vending trucks/vans.

Under the scheme, support will be provided to select implementing agencies, decentralised cold storage facilities, procurement of vending trucks/vans and for fruit and vegetable processing, a source said. The scheme will have a provision to support the agencies to set up at least 10 kiosks/retail outlets at 10 strategic locations in residential areas like apartment complexes, societies and colonies.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Harikishan Sharma

Harikishan Sharma, Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express' National Bureau, specializes in reporting on governance, policy, and data. He covers the Prime Minister’s Office and pivotal central ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Rural Development, and Ministry of Jal Shakti. His work primarily revolves around reporting and policy analysis. In addition to this, he authors a weekly column titled "STATE-ISTICALLY SPEAKING," which is prominently featured on The Indian Express website. In this column, he immerses readers in narratives deeply rooted in socio-economic, political, and electoral data, providing insightful perspectives on these critical aspects of governance and society. ... Read More

Who is Rahul Navin, the new full-time director of the ED

The move comes almost a year after the post of regular director of ED fell vacant after Sanjay Mishra’s tenure ended.

Written by Deeptiman Tiwary

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024

Navin was acting director of the agency

Acting Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Rahul Navin was Tuesday appointed as full-time Director of the central agency. Navin will remain Director till August 13, 2026 when his two-year tenure will end. His superannuation from service is due in September 2027.

The move comes almost a year after the post of regular director of ED fell vacant after Sanjay Mishra’s tenure ended.

A 1993 batch Indian Revenue Service officer, Navin, has supervised some of the most politically sensitive cases including the Delhi liquor policy case and the Jharkhand land deals case. He is the only ED director to execute the arrest of two sitting Chief Ministers — Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren.

Before becoming the Acting Director, Navin had already spent four years in the ED as Special Director. He joined the agency from the Income Tax Department in November 2019.

Before coming to ED, Navin worked with the Income Tax department dealing with international taxation, transfer pricing and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He has also worked in the vigilance department of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

An IIT Kanpur graduate, Navin is regarded as an expert in international taxation. He also has an MBA from Australia and is the author of a book on taxation.

He has also taught at the National Academy of Direct Tax, the apex civil service training institution of the Indian Revenue Service and the Income Tax Department.

Navin is said to have played a crucial role in improving India’s standing in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

45% Indian-Americans went after 2010, median age below US average: Report

Also, around 3,20,000 work visas — a staggering 73% of the total work visas the US allocated in 2022-23 — were issued to Indians.

Written by Divya A

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:31 IST

The report is the first volume in a series to look at the impact of the Indian diaspora, with a focus on public service, business, culture and innovation.

AROUND HALF of the over 5 million Indians residing in the United States migrated after 2010. With a median age of 36 years, the Indian-American community is, in fact, younger than that of the US average. Also, around 3,20,000 work visas — a staggering 73% of the total work visas the US allocated in 2022-23 — were issued to Indians.

These findings figure in the latest report of US-based non-profit organisation Indiaspora, prepared in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group. Titled ‘Small Community, Big Contributions, Boundless Horizons: The Indian Diaspora in the United States’, the report takes note of the ways in which this relatively small community — 1.5 per cent of the total US population — continues to have an impact on multiple aspects of American life, from the economic to the cultural.

Quoting data from the Migration Policy Institute, the impact report says that of the Indian diaspora’s 5.1 million people in the US, about 2.8 million are first-generation immigrants. Approximately 30 per cent of them migrated to the US before 2000, while around 45% made the move after 2010. The community is largely concentrated in New York State and California.

According to the most recent census, their median age is 36 years — a bit younger than the median population of the US as a whole, says the report, which was released by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti in Delhi on Tuesday.

The median income of the Indian-Americans — around $136,000 – is almost double than that of the US average, according to the report.

“Indian-Americans account for only 1.5% of the US population, yet they continue to have an outsized and positive impact across different aspects of US society,” said Indiaspora founder M R Rangaswami.

Incidentally, former PepsiCo CEO and Chairman Indra Nooyi and former US Ambassador to India Ken Juster are members of the Steering Committee in preparing the report.

While the United Arab Emirates is home to the largest segment of the Indian diaspora, the US is home to the second largest, the report says. The biggest draw for them is the educational offerings in the US.

According to the report, 78% Indian-Americans hold bachelor’s degrees or higher, which outpaces the US national average of 36%.

According to Boston Consulting Group estimates, members of the community contribute 5-6% ($300 billion) in tax revenues annually, on top of the $370-$460 billion in annual spending, which translates into a major economic wave in terms of sales tax, business growth, and support of employment.

From Silicon Valley tech giants to global conglomerates, Indian-origin leaders are steering some of the most influential companies, the report says.

Indian-origin CEOs were at the helm of 16 Fortune 500 companies in 2023 (3%), managing enterprises that generated roughly $978 billion (5%) in revenues and employed 2.5 million people (9%) across the globe that year.

As many as 72 unicorn startups out of 648 in the US are led by Indian-origin founders, with their collective value exceeding $195 billion, employing 55,000 people (approximately 13% of the unicorn workforce). Quoting a 2020 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research and Harvard University, the report says the Indian diaspora’s share of patents increased from 1.9% in 1975 to 10% in 2019.

Many diaspora members come to the US to study. According to Open Doors data for 2022-2023, around 2,70,000 students from India pursue graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities. This accounts for 25% of the international student population in the US, says the report.

There is a preference for studies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects among the Indian students, with over 70% enrolled in engineering, computer science, or life science programmes — along with 10% in business/management programmes – as of 2023. Around 60% of them are enrolled in graduate-level programmes.

In healthcare, Indian-origin physicians comprise 10% of all doctors in the US, serving 30% of the patients.

According to data collected by the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, Indian Americans own around 60% of all US hotels, generating $700 billion in revenue and creating over 4 million jobs, directly and indirectly. Indian Americans also own an estimated 35%-50% of all convenience stores in the US.

However, the Pew Research Center estimates that about 6% of the group lives below the poverty line — with the complexities of undocumented migration comprising a significant contributing factor. Approximately 14% Indian-Americans were undocumented in 2021, making them the third-largest undocumented migrant group in the country.

The report is the first volume in a series to look at the impact of the Indian diaspora, with a focus on public service, business, culture and innovation. In addition to various statistics, the project also profiles the diaspora leaders across economic and cultural areas.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Divya A

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More

Indian Army to procure cutting-edge tech to detect enemy drones near border areas

As per the Army, the proposed system should have a surveillance, detection and tracking capability, microprocessor for computing a targeting solution and a LASER weapon system for hard kill or destruction and jamming capability for soft kill or denial.

Written by Amrita Nayak Dutta

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 09:39 IST

Parameters such as range of detection and other technical parameters will be submitted by the vendors when they submit their bids.

The Indian Army is set to procure an advanced version of the Integrated Drone Detection and Interdiction system (MK IIA) to counter the growing threats from unmanned aerial systems, particularly along the western and northern borders.

As per the Army, the proposed system should have a surveillance, detection and tracking capability, microprocessor for computing a targeting solution and a LASER weapon system for hard kill or destruction and jamming capability for soft kill or denial. A Request for Information (RFI) was published last month by the Army to seek details about the system from prospective vendors.

The fresh RFI comes within months after the Army inducted indigenous integrated drone detection and interdiction systems in the northern border along the China border in the northern sector and is reflective of the efforts to develop and procure counter drone systems in the wake of an increase in threats from enemy unmanned aerial systems.

Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics, the Army Air Defence had got seven of these systems, five of which were inducted for deployment close to the northern borders. These systems too had both soft and hard kill options.

Apart from these indigenous systems, other improvised systems with different counter-UAS capabilities have been deployed by the Armed Forces. This includes prototypes of laser-based systems developed indigenously with Army Air Defence, improvised versions of ZU-23 and L/70 guns for drone detection and killing, ad-hoc handled jammers, low-level lightweight radars, among others. The Armed Forces have inducted anti-drone systems from Indian private firms and the Israeli SMASH 2000 plus systems to tackle enemy drone threats.

Parameters such as range of detection and other technical parameters will be submitted by the vendors when they submit their bids. However, the RFI states that it should have a radar system that should be able to detect and track low RCS targets, and assist in designation of the hostile targets to the weapon system. As per officials, it is likely that the advanced system may have a greater bandwidth of frequencies for tracking and taking down enemy drones and an improved range for the system beyond 800 metres, which is there for its MK 1 version.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

President Murmu meets Indian Olympics contingent, hails players performance

Addressing the players, Murmu said they are a source of inspiration for all the youth of the country, especially the young players.

By: PTI

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 23:31 IST

India won six medals, including a silver and five bronze, at the Paris Olympics to continue their good run in the global showpiece. (PTI)

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday met the Indian Olympic contingent and congratulated the players for their performance at the recently-concluded Paris Games.

“President Droupadi Murmu met the Indian Contingent of the Paris Olympics 2024 at Ganatantra Mandap, Rashtrapati Bhavan,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a post on ‘X’ and shared pictures of the meeting.

Addressing the players, Murmu said they are a source of inspiration for all the youth of the country, especially the young players.

India won six medals, including a silver and five bronze, at the Paris Olympics to continue their good run in the global showpiece.

As many as 117 athletes participated in the Olympics held in the French capital from July 26 to August 11.

Among those present were shooter Manu Bhaker, who became the first Indian athlete in the post-independence era to win two Olympic medals in a single edition of the Games. She earned bronze in both the women’s 10m air pistol and the 10m air pistol mixed team event, alongside Sarabjot Singh, who was also in attendance.

Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, along with captain Harmanpreet Singh and several members of the bronze-medal-winning men’s hockey team, also attended the event.

Wrestler Aman Sehrawat, who claimed bronze in the men’s 57kg freestyle on his Olympic debut, shooter Swapnil Kusale, who won the bronze medal in the 50-meter rifle three positions, shuttler Lakshya Sen, and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who finished a commendable fourth, were also present.

India placed 71st on the Paris Olympics medals tally.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Protests against assaults on journalists in Bangladesh continue in Tripura

Journalists wear black badges to condemn attacks on their counterparts in Bangladesh.

Written by Debraj Deb

Agartala | August 14, 2024 22:45 IST

Members of the Tripura Journalists Union, Tripura Working Journalists Association, Tripura Sports Journalists Club and Tripura Photo Journalists Association protested in front of the Agartala Press Club. (Representational Image/Agencies)

Protests against attacks on journalists in Bangladesh continued in Tripura on Wednesday as journalists from 10 media houses wore black badges to condemn the attacks that killed five journalists and injured many others in the unrest-hit neighbouring country.

Members of the Tripura Journalists Union, Tripura Working Journalists Association, Tripura Sports Journalists Club and Tripura Photo Journalists Association protested in front of the Agartala Press Club.

TJU president Pranab Sarkar said that Bangladesh’s interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus should ensure that journalists are allowed to work without hindrance.

Veteran journalist Sekhar Datta said that people from different cultural sectors have a close bond with Bangladesh. “Artists from both the countries performed several shows in the Northeast states and Bangladesh after the 1971 Liberation War. Such events should continue to deepen the friendship between the two countries,” he said.

On August 11, members of the Agartala Press Club protested over the safety of journalists in Bangladesh. Press club president Jayanta Bhattacharya then said that arrest warrants had been issued against journalists of different media houses in the neighbouring country.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

EC reviews J-K security situation with Home Secy for holding Assembly polls

J&K has five Lok Sabha seats and 90 Assembly constituencies.

Written by Damini Nath

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 06:13 IST

The EC’s review also took into account the recent spike in terror activities in Jammu, sources said. (File Photo)

THE ELECTION Commission Wednesday held a meeting with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to review the security situation and the requirement of forces for holding Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

EC sources said the deployment of forces would be “over and above” that for the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year.

The commission, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, had visited the Union Territory last week to review preparations on the ground. On Wednesday, the EC met Bhalla and discussed the possible increase in the number of security personnel for the Assembly polls compared to the Lok Sabha polls, sources said.

Given the security situation in the UT, all candidates would require security cover, leading to an increase in the requirement, sources said. The Assembly elections are also expected to be more contested, they said.

The EC’s review also took into account the recent spike in terror activities in Jammu, sources said.

J&K has five Lok Sabha seats and 90 Assembly constituencies.

Since the last Assembly elections in J&K were held in 2014, the more-recent Lok Sabha elections would be taken as the benchmark for deciding force deployment, said an official.

While upholding the abrogation of Article 370, the Supreme Court last year had directed the Election Commission to hold Assembly elections in J&K by September 30, 2024. Ahead of the deadline, the EC has started the process of preparing the updated electoral roll, which is scheduled to be published on August 20. The ongoing Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage is scheduled to end on August 19.

Speaking at a press conference in Jammu last week, the CEC said the commission was committed to holding Assembly elections in the UT at the earliest. Jammu and Kashmir hasn’t had Assembly elections since 2014 and had no Assembly since it was dissolved in 2018. If held, the upcoming elections would be the first in 10 years and the first since the state was split into two Union Territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh – in 2019.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Damini Nath

Damini Nath is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. She covers the housing and urban affairs and Election Commission beats. She has 11 years of experience as a reporter and sub-editor. Before joining The Indian Express in 2022, she was a reporter with The Hindu’s national bureau covering culture, social justice, housing and urban affairs and the Election Commission. ... Read More

Full Text: President Droupadi Murmu’s speech on 78th Independence Day eve

President emphasised the words of Dr B R Ambedkar, stating that “political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy.”

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 21:35 IST

President Droupadi Murmu during the opening of Amrit Udyan Summer Annuals Edition, 2024, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

President Droupadi Murmu addressed the nation on the eve of the 78th Independence Day and said social justice is the top priority of the Narendra Modi-led Central government. “Modi government has taken numerous initiatives for welfare of SC, ST and marginalised sections. Social justice is the top priority of Modi government,” said President Murmu. The President emphasised the words of Dr B R Ambedkar, stating that “political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy”. She called for the reinforcement of affirmative action as a tool for inclusion and urged the people to reject “tendencies that fuel discord based on perceived social hierarchies”.

The President also conferred gallantry and service medals to personnel from the police and other security and combat forces today, including a President’s Medal for Gallantry (PMG) and 213 Medals for Gallantry (GM).

President’s full speech here:

I extend to you all my heartiest Independence Day greetings.

I am delighted to see the nation prepare to celebrate the 78thIndependence Day. Witnessing the tri-colour unfurl on this occasion, be it at the Red Fort, at state capitals or in local neighbourhoods, always thrills our hearts. It is an expression of the joy of being part of our great nation along with more than 1.4 billion fellow Indians. Just as we celebrate various festivals with our families, we celebrate our Independence Day and Republic Day with our family that comprises our fellow citizens.

On 15th of August, in all parts of the country and also abroad, Indians participate in the flag-hoisting ceremonies, sing patriotic songs, and distribute sweets. Young children participate in cultural events. When we hear them talking about our great nation and about the privilege of being a citizen of it, we find in their words echoes of what our great freedom fighters used to say. Then we realise that we are part of a chain that binds the dreams of those who participated in the freedom struggle and the aspirations of those who will witness the nation regaining its full glory in the years to come.

Realising that we are links of this chain of history is humbling. It makes us recall the days when the nation was under a foreign rule. Patriotic and brave souls took immense risks and made supreme sacrifices. We salute their memory. Thanks to their unceasing labour, the soul of India awoke from centuries of torpor. Different traditions and values that had continued to live on beneath the surface found new expressions in several generations of great leaders. Unifying the diversity of traditions and their expressions was Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation and our lodestar. Alongside, there were great leaders like Sardar Patel, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Babasaheb Ambedkar as well as Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and many others. It was a nationwide movement, in which all communities participated.

Among tribals, there were Tilka Manjhi, Birsa Munda, Laxman Naik and PhuloJhano, among many more whose sacrifices are now being appreciated. We have started celebrating the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas. Celebrations of his 150th birth anniversary next year will be an opportunity to further honour his contribution to the national re-awakening. My Dear Fellow Citizens, Today, on 14th August, the nation is observing Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas, a day to recall partition horrors. As the great nation was divided, millions had to suffer forced migration, lakhs of people lost their lives.

A day before we celebrate Independence Day, we recall that unparalleled human tragedy and stand with the families that were torn asunder. We are celebrating the 75th year of the Constitution. The journey of the newly independent nation was not without obstacles. Remaining firm on the Constitutional ideals of justice, equality, liberty and fraternity, we are on the mission to enable India to reclaim its rightful position on the global stage. As general elections were held in our country this year, the number of eligible voters stood at nearly 97 crore. This was a historic record, making it the largest electoral exercise humankind has ever witnessed. The Election Commission of India should be congratulated for the smooth and flawless conduct of such a gigantic event. I thank all officials and security personnel who braved the heat and helped electors.

When such a large number of people exercise their franchise, it is a resounding vote for the idea of democracy. India’s successful conduct of elections strengthens democratic forces around the world. Dear Fellow Citizens, From 2021 to 2024, India has been among the fastest growing major economies, with an average growth rate of 8 percent annually. This has not only put more money in the hands of people, it has also drastically reduced the number of people living below the poverty line. As for those who continue to suffer from poverty, all efforts are being made not only to provide a helping hand to them, but also to bring them out of it. For example, the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, launched in the initial phase of Covid-19, continues to provide free ration to about 80 crore people, which also ensures that those who have recently come out of poverty are not forced back into it. It is a matter of pride for all that India has become the fifth largest economy in the world, and we are also poised to become one of the top three economies soon.

This has been made possible only by tireless hard work of farmers and workers, by the farsightedness of planners and wealth-creators, and by the visionary leadership. Farmers, our Annadata, have ensured that agricultural production continues to beat expectations. With this, they have contributed immensely to making India self-reliant in agriculture and feed our people.

Infrastructure has received a boost in recent years. Strategic planning and effective institutions have helped expand the network of roads and highways, railways as well as ports. Considering the great potential of futuristic technology, the Government has vigorously promoted a range of sectors, such as semiconductors and Artificial Intelligence, while also creating an ideal ecosystem for startups which will propel their growth. It has made India an even more attractive investment destination. With greater transparency, the banking and financial sector has become much more efficient. All of these factors have set the stage for the next generation of economic reforms and economic growth that will catapult India among the developed nations. This rapid but equitable progress has given India a higher stature in global affairs. After the successful completion of its G-20 Presidency, India has consolidated its role as the voice of the Global South. India intends to use its influential position to expand the scope of world peace and prosperity.

We must remember the words of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of our Constitution. He had rightly said, and I quote, “We must make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy.”

The steady progress of political democracy testifies to the progress made towards the consolidation of social democracy. The spirit of inclusion pervades every aspect of our social life. We move together as a cohesive nation with our diversity and plurality. Affirmative action must be strengthened as an instrument of inclusion. I firmly believe that in a vast country like ours, tendencies that stoke discord based upon perceived social hierarchies have to be rejected. Social justice is a top priority of the Government, and it has taken a number of unprecedented initiatives for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other marginalised sections of society.

Pradhan Mantri Samajik Utthan evam Rozgar Adharit Jankalyan, that is, PM-SURAJ, for example, aims to provide direct financial assistance to the people from the marginalised communities. The Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan or PM-JANMAN has taken the form of a mass campaign for critical interventions to improve socio-economic conditions of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, that is, PVTGs. The National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem or the NAMASTE scheme will ensure that no sanitation workers will have to manually engage in the hazardous task of sewer and septic tank cleaning.

The term ‘justice’, taken in the broadest possible sense, includes a variety of social factors. I would like to stress two of them in particular, namely, gender justice and climate justice. In our society, women are considered not only equal, but even more than equal. However, they have also suffered from traditional prejudices. But I am glad to note that the Government has given equal importance to women’s welfare and women’s empowerment. The budget allocation for this purpose has more than tripled in the last decade. Their participation in the labour force has increased. The most heartening development on this front has been the significant improvement in the sex ratio at birth.

A variety of special government schemes have also been designed keeping the women at the centre. Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is aimed at ensuring real empowerment of women. Climate change has become a reality. It is all the more challenging for developing nations to change their economic paradigm. Yet, we have already made more progress in that direction than expected. India is proud to be at the forefront of humankind’s battle to save the planet from the worst effects of global warming. I also urge you all to make small but effective changes in your lifestyle and contribute to the cause of dealing with the challenge of climate change.

Speaking of justice, let me also mention here that in adopting the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita from July this year, we have removed one more relic of the colonial era. The new code is oriented towards ensuring justice for the victims of crime instead of focusing on punishment alone. I see this change as a tribute to the freedom fighters. My Dear Fellow Citizens, The Amrit Kaal, the ongoing period of a quarter century leading to the centenary of our Independence, is going to be shaped by the youth of today. It is their energy and enthusiasm that will help the nation scale new heights. Cultivating the young minds and creating a new mindset that takes the best of the traditions and the contemporary knowledge is our priority.

To this end, the National Education Policy, launched since 2020, has already started showing results. To harness their talent, the Government has come up with initiatives to facilitate skilling, employment and other opportunities for them. The Prime Minister’s package of five schemes for employment and skilling will benefit 4.1 crore youth over five years. Under a new initiative of the Government, one crore youth will be doing internship in leading companies over five years. All this will be a foundational contribution towards building Viksit Bharat.

In India, we view science and technology as part of the quest for knowledge as well as instrument for humanitarian progress. Our achievements in the field of digital applications, for example, are being used as templates in other countries. In recent years, India has made unprecedented advances in space exploration. Along with you all, I also eagerly look forward to the launch of the Gaganyaan Mission next year, which will take a team of Indian astronauts into space aboard India’s first human spaceflight.

The world of sports is another arena in which the country has made great progress in the last decade. The Government has rightly prioritised the development of sports infrastructure, and it is showing results. The Indian contingent put up its best efforts in the recently concluded Paris Olympic Games. I appreciate the dedication and hard work of the players. They have inspired the youth. In cricket, India won the T-20 World Cup, to the great joy of a large number of fans. In chess, our prodigies have made the country proud. This is said to be the beginning of an Indian era in chess. In badminton, tennis and other sports, our youngsters are making a mark on the world stage. Their achievements have inspired the next generation too.

With the nation all set to celebrate Independence Day, let me once again extend my greetings to you, particularly our brave jawans of Armed Forces who guard our freedom, risking their lives. I convey my greetings to the police and security personnel who keep vigil all across the country. I also extend my greetings to the members of the judiciary and the civil services, as well as the officials of our missions abroad. My greetings also to our diaspora: You are part of our family, making us proud with your achievements. You are great representatives of India’s culture and heritage. Once again, I wish everyone a very Happy Independence Day!

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Over 800 birth certificates issued from single ID in UP village in 2 years, probe ordered

"These certificates have been issued not only for residents of Uttar Pradesh but also for individuals in other states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka," an official said.

By: PTI

Hathras | August 14, 2024 20:56 IST

Gram Panchayat Officer Ishwar Chand, who is responsible for Sinchawali Sani, said he received access to the CRS portal on August 5. (File)

Authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras have found out that a single user ID from a village was used to issue birth certificates for 814 individuals in multiple states in less than two years, prompting them to launch a probe.

Officials said Sinchawali Sani village has a population of roughly 1,100. However, over the last 19 months, a total of 814 birth certificates were issued using the village’s user ID for the Civil Registration System (CRS).

“These certificates have been issued not only for residents of Uttar Pradesh but also for individuals in other states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka,” an official said.

“So far, it has been found that 780 certificates were issued in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Jharkhand, 12 in Bihar, four each in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, and one was issued in Karnataka. The number of such cases may increase as the investigation progresses,” the official said.

Gram Panchayat Officer Ishwar Chand, who is responsible for Sinchawali Sani, said he received access to the CRS portal on August 5.

“By then, 814 birth certificates were already issued through the ID. All of these certificates listed Sinchawali Sani as the place of birth,” Chand, who reported the matter to senior officials, said.

District Magistrate Ashish Kumar said a probe has been initiated.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Hathras Dr Manjeet Singh, who has been tasked with leading the investigation, said efforts are on to determine how the ID was leaked.

“The ID was recently assigned to the panchayat secretary of Sinchawali Sani. The inquiry will focus on uncovering the source of the leak and the extent of the misuse,” he added.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Govind Mohan next Home Secretary, takes over from Bhalla; more key postings expected

Mohan, who turns 59 next month, takes over from Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a 1984-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, who was appointed as Union Home Secretary in August 2019 and remained on the post for almost half a decade.

Written by Jatin Anand

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:26 IST

Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Mohan has been on Central Deputation since August, 2017 and has served as a Joint Secretary in the MHA from May to September 2018 and as Additional Secretary from September 2018 to September 2021.(Photo Credit: @secycultureGOI/X)

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Wednesday posted 1989-Sikkim cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Govind Mohan as the next Union Home Secretary.

Mohan, who turns 59 next month, takes over from Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a 1984-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, who was appointed as Union Home Secretary in August 2019 and remained on the post for almost half a decade.

In addition to the seniority of the post — just a notch below the Cabinet Secretary and with the key responsibility of advising the Union Home Minister on administrative and policy matters — Mohan’s appointment assumes more significance in the face of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir among others over the coming days.

An electrical engineer from BHU-IIT Varanasi, Mohan has served as Union Culture Secretary since October 2021 and had two stints in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the past.

Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Mohan has been on Central Deputation since August, 2017 and has served as a Joint Secretary in the MHA from May to September 2018 and as Additional Secretary from September 2018 to September 2021.

According to sources aware of developments in this regard, Mohan’s appointment had paved the way for a significant reshuffle at the Secretary-level in the Government of India.

In addition to an estimated 10 to 12 postings as Secretaries in various ministries, the reshuffle was also expected to impact a few states, sources added.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates

Delhi Confidential

- Delhi Confidential: After Promotion

- Delhi Confidential: Catching kites part of security arrangements at Red Fort

Delhi Confidential: After Promotion

With the Supreme Court announcing names of 39 new senior advocates on Wednesday, the corridors of the top court were filled with jubilation.

By: Express News Service

New Delhi | August 15, 2024 02:32 IST

While dictating the order, CJI Chandrachud, in a lighter vein, said that Senior Advocate Sharma appeared in his junior advocate gown.

With the Supreme Court announcing names of 39 new senior advocates on Wednesday, the corridors of the top court were filled with jubilation. One of the new senior advocates, Gaurav Sharma, appeared in the Chief Justice of India’s court and was congratulated by the bench. While dictating the order, CJI Chandrachud, in a lighter vein, said that Senior Advocate Sharma appeared in his junior advocate gown. The tag of ‘senior’ adds to the stature of an advocate and after the promotion, they wear a distinctive black gown carrying flaps on the back even though rules do not prescribe it.

Striking A Rapport

BJP leaders are trying to make the Prime Minister’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ a brand. Former Union minister V Muraleedharan recently launched a quiz competition based on the programme for students in Karala’s Thiruvananthapuram district. After the third edition of the quiz, Muraleedharan arranged a trip for the winners — 23 of them — to the national capital to witness the Independence Day programme at the Red Fort. He also arranged students’ meetings with senior ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Dharmendra Pradhan. The party hopes that it is a good way to strike a rapport with the youngsters.

Striking A Rapport

BJP ally in National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), has got approval from the Election Commission for changing its party symbol from ‘stick’ to ‘key’. Party leaders say confusion between ‘stick’ and ‘hockey stick’ has led to loss of votes for the party in the Assembly elections of 2017, 2022 and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Party claims that on a few seats, little known independent candidates with ‘hockey stick’ as the election symbol got a lot of votes due to this confusion.

Delhi Confidential: Catching kites part of security arrangements at Red Fort

One of the senior officers of the Central range had informed his colleagues that he got an input that on August 15, the wind will blow from the northern side and they should deploy ‘kite catchers’ accordingly.

By: Express News Service

August 14, 2024 08:34 IST

The Tricolour at the Red Fort ahead of Independence Day celebrations (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

As part of the security arrangements for Independence Day, Delhi Police are keeping a close watch on the website of the Meteorological department for latest weather updates — wind direction to be precise. One of the senior officers of the Central range had informed his colleagues that he got an input that on August 15, the wind will blow from the northern side and they should deploy ‘kite catchers’ accordingly. Stopping loose kites from flying down to Red Fort is also part of the security arrangements.

Lost In Translation

Supreme Court Justice K V Viswanathan, while hearing a case on Monday was mildly miffed with the quality of translation of court records. Realising the translation could be done by artificial intelligence (AI), the bench headed by Justice B R Gavai told lawyers to be cautious. Justice Viswanathan jovially went on to add that while dictating orders, some oft-used phrases in judgments have hilarious AI translations in Hindi. “When I said leave granted (when the court agrees to hear a case), it would become ‘chhutti sweekaar’,” the judge said.

New Facility

Personnel of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) can now purchase personal vehicles, two-wheelers as well as four-wheelers, from the Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandars (KPKB). The CAPF recently issued an order, informing the facilities that several automobile firms were offering vehicles at special price. Unlike other defence canteens, CAPF facilities didn’t offer vehicles to its personnel. The order, however, said that as of date, there will be no GST concession on vehicles.

Opinion

- Skilling India — for the world

- August 15, 1984, Forty Years Ago: Controversy over paid seats in medical colleges

- On broadcast bill, government’s welcome step back

- Harris’ or Harris’s: In grammar war, hope for democracy

- A doctor’s murder and a broken system in Bengal

- With freedom in 1947, the birth of the people’s Constitution

- Dear Editor, I disagree: Caste is a system, not a classification

- India’s aspirants need someone to help them dream

- Shanta Gokhale writes: On Independence Day, of freedoms and unfreedoms

- On Pakistan’s Independence Day, hope for the future in an Olympic gold

- At coaching centres, education is just another product

- On sub-classification of SC, ST, apex court should clear confusion over creamy layer

- From Arab Spring to Bangladesh regime fall — ‘jobless growth’ is a national security issue

- August 14, 1984, Forty Years Ago: Sri Lankan army troops set fire to a Tamil-dominated town

- Trump and Musk are not as entertaining as they think they are

- The post-Mandal moment is here — and it calls for a new politics

- RBI employment data should be read with a caveat

- C Raja Mohan writes: Bangladesh and the ‘foreign hand’ bogey

- In his centenary year, making sense of Guru Dutt in the classroom

Skilling India — for the world

Budget could pave the way for making youth drivers of India’s growth

Written by Jayant Chaudhary

August 15, 2024 09:34 IST

The next two decades, leading into India at 100 and beyond, could be the most significant in the country’s growth trajectory.

India today is at a pivotal point where, along with sustained economic growth, we must also harness our demographic dividend. This means empowering people with skills that ensure economic resilience and social inclusion. We must build a roadmap where every member of the workforce has the opportunity to develop useful occupational and vocational skills, upskill to improve the quality of their employment and reskill to utilise new tools for enhancing their competencies. This imperative is particularly relevant for rural India, where equitable access to sustainable livelihood opportunities is not only necessary for economic stability but also social integration.

The next two decades, leading into India at 100 and beyond, could be the most significant in the country’s growth trajectory. India is in a position to become the largest contributor to the global workforce. We must, therefore, focus on making the country a global hub for innovation, education, entrepreneurship, and high-quality skills.

The Budget exercise isn’t just about placing an account of revenue, expenditure and plans for taxes — ideally, it should also be a statement of intent and resolve. The Union Budget 2024 is a clarion call for an enabling policy framework and ecosystem for the country’s youth, who could become catalysts for a high economic growth trajectory. It has rightfully prioritised the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), putting it at the forefront of enabling and empowering our youth. Key initiatives include a centrally sponsored scheme under the Prime Minister’s package that will skill 20 lakh youth over the next five years.

A substantial allocation has been made for Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) for the next five years. Hundred ITIs are to be modernised through a hub-and-spoke model, supported by a total outlay of Rs 60,000 crore. This endeavour has been bolstered by a new centrally sponsored scheme, developed in collaboration with states and industry, to ensure that skilling outcomes meet high standards of quality and relevance — Rs 30,000 crore will come from the Centre, Rs 20,000 crore from state governments, and Rs 10,000 crore from industry contributions, including CSR funding. The capacity of five national institutes will be augmented with the aim of benefiting 20 lakh students, aligning ITI training with industry needs and creating a robust pathway for workforce development.

Another major change is the revision of the Model Skill Loan Scheme up to Rs 7.5 lakh, with a guarantee from a government-promoted fund, expected to benefit 25,000 students annually. This will help us lay greater emphasis on outcomes under our key focus areas, schemes, and initiatives which are set out below.

The Skill India Mission today supports all flagship schemes of the government, such as PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), PM Vishwakarma, PM JANMAN Yojana, Lakhpati Didi, Solar Mission, Green Hydrogen Mission and AI for India. Since its inception in 2015, the Mission has equipped millions of young Indians with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving job market. As Skill India completes 10 years, it is imperative to reimagine the Skill 2.0 landscape and adopt a comprehensive approach to future developments. PMKVY is focused on short-term skill development training. It focuses on the rural youth and has trained over 1.49 crore candidates.

Apprenticeship training has emerged as a cornerstone of skill development and economic growth. Recognising its importance, the Centre has revised the Apprentices Act of 1961 to provide a more conducive training framework. More than 32 lakh youngsters are engaged as apprentices. Integrating apprenticeships into the educational system and linking them to higher education pathways is crucial. To make apprenticeships more attractive, the government shares stipend costs with establishments under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and has streamlined processes to expedite stipend reimbursements.

An exciting development in this respect is the launch, last year, of the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) — a platform for all skilling requirements. The portal has been envisaged as an information repository for all government initiatives related to skilling and entrepreneurship.

There are also plans to make India a global skills hub by equipping our institutions to meet international demands. Students in these institutions will receive financial support through skill vouchers and skill loans. We will also integrate skilling with general academic education, as per the recommendations of the National Education Policy.

India plans to use its demographic dividend to optimise its role in the global economic growth story. In the coming months, major initiatives will be rolled out to put skill development at the forefront of India’s growth trajectory. A multi-pronged approach that gives every working age Indian an opportunity to have higher quality and skill intensive employment will not only separate us from the rest of the world but will ensure that we lead the drive to being the world’s leading economy by 2047.

The writer is Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India. Views are personal

August 15, 1984, Forty Years Ago: Controversy over paid seats in medical colleges

August 15, 1984, Forty Years Ago: This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 15, 1984, Forty Years Ago.

By: Editorial

August 15, 2024 08:05 IST

August 15, 1984, Forty Years Ago: This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 15, 1984, Forty Years Ago.

TDP in crisis

The Telugu Desam government in Andhra Pradesh plunged into a serious crisis with four ministers, including Finance Minister N Bhaskara Rao resigning from the N T Rama Rao cabinet. The other ministers are: Health Minister S Ramamuni Reddy, Transport Minister S Satyanarayana and Excise Minister T Jeevan Reddy. Jeevan Reddy said: ‘We are not satisfied with the dictatorial type of functioning of the Chief Minister.’

President on I-Day

The President, Zail Singh, warned the nation that some misguided people and disruptive forces, which precipitated the tragic events in Punjab, were now creating disturbances in other parts of the country. ‘It is our sacred duty to check these disruptive forces,’ Singh said in his address to the nation on the eve of the Independence Day. The supreme task before the country was to eradicate poverty, hunger, ignorance and disease. Violent agitations and extremist activities only put the clock back on this endeavour, he said.

Lanka Tamil Question

The escalation of violence and killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka was once again raised by irate opposition members during zero hour in both Houses of Parliament. Many opposition members of the Lok Sabha, notably those from the DMK, expressed their anguish over the developments in Sri Lanka and called upon the government to come up with a ‘fresh statement’ on the issue. Subramaniam Swamy said that ‘genocide in a big way’’ was taking place in Sri Lanka.

Paid Seats In Medicine

Degrees received by medical students from ‘capitation colleges,’ which are being encouraged by certain state governments, would not be recognised by the Medical Council of India at any cost. The purchase of seats in these colleges by students belonging to affluent families was against the ‘ethical principles of science of medicine,’ according to B N Sinha, president of the Medical Council of India. Sinha lamented that the standard of medical education in the country had been deteriorating because of the apathetic attitude of the state governments.

On broadcast bill, government’s welcome step back

Government must listen to stakeholders, heed concerns about cramping of free expression, before it goes forward with draft bill

By: Editorial

August 15, 2024 08:02 IST

Several controversial provisions of the draft Bill warrant more careful consideration.

In November last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had placed the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill in the public domain for comments. Last month, a new version of the Bill was reportedly shared with a few stakeholders. Several provisions have been met with legitimate criticism. Concerns have been articulated over the government’s apparent attempt to exercise greater sway over online content, and curb views that it may deem as being critical of it, raising worries over freedom of speech and expression. Such fears are underlined when a government official, according to a report in this paper, cites the ‘role a number of independent content creators played in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls’ in videos ‘which made some sensational claims about the government and its senior leaders’, as a key reason for the bill.

Several controversial provisions of the draft Bill warrant more careful consideration. It has sought to expand its scope from OTT content and digital news to social media accounts and online video creators. It seeks to expand the definition of ‘digital news broadcaster’ to include publishers of news and current affairs content, also encompassing independent content creators. This could include users on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and X, platforms that provide space to a vast multitude and help amplify news and views. The Bill could possibly include creators who reside outside the country as well — this, though, would run up against the wall of enforcement. These content creators need to intimate the government of their work, set up a content evaluation committee, and ensure its diversity — only programmes certified by these committees would be allowed to run. Such sweeping provisions, which could lead to greater interventions and curbs, posing hurdles for creators in the development of content and in the generation of revenue streams, don’t square with the government’s own attempts elsewhere to bolster the start-up ecosystem, and invigorate the digital economy.

After a pushback from several quarters, the government has done well to withdraw the draft Bill. The ministry has said that it ‘is holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders,’ and has allowed them till October 15 to place their comments. It has said that a fresh draft will be published after detailed consultations. This is the right step. Such far reaching regulations, besides being undesirable, will also be difficult to implement. The government must listen to all stakeholders before it goes forward with this bill.

Harris’ or Harris’s: In grammar war, hope for democracy

According to media reports, her press releases have gone with both variations. That’s one up for democracy

By: Editorial

August 15, 2024 07:55 IST

The Associated Press Stylebook, the most commonly referenced media stylesheet, has clear directions for the use of the possessive.

Trouble is brewing in the US ahead of the presidential elections and it has got little to do with ideology or politics. The two sides ranged on either end of the warring field are the apostrophe evangelists and the apostrophe anarchists, broadly categorised as sub-species of the grammar nerd. Their aim: A consensus on the proper use of the possessive when it comes to Democratic candidates Kamala Harris and her vice presidential nominee, Minnesota governor Tim Walz. The snag: The quirks of the English language, with its rich debts to Germanic and French roots, make it difficult to draw a defining line. In other words, where should the apostrophe be? Should it be Harris’ or Harris’s? Or, Walz’ or Walz’s?

The Associated Press Stylebook, the most commonly referenced media stylesheet, has clear directions for the use of the possessive. For singular common nouns ending in the alphabet ‘s’, add another one after the apostrophe (Example: dress’s). But when it comes to proper nouns ending in ‘s’, just an apostrophe is good enough (Example: Roger Waters’). So ‘Harris’ campaign’ would be just fine. Only, the anarchists beg to differ. An apostrophe hanging out alone in the end is a letdown of its very purpose, they claim. If one pronounces the ‘s’, why not just add it to the word — ‘Harris’s campaign’.

Given how the evolution of the English language has come to break free of the Pareto principle — the law of the vital few holding disproportionate determining power — it makes sense to call for a time-out on this. The written word has always been guided by the spoken and if both usages manage to communicate their import, both ought to hold good. Harris’s campaign seems to think as much. According to media reports, her press releases have gone with both ‘Harris’’ and ‘Harris’s’. That’s one up for democracy.

A doctor’s murder and a broken system in Bengal

High Court transferring case of doctor's rape-murder to CBI indicts West Bengal police – and points to the larger guilt in the TMC-ruled state

By: Editorial

August 15, 2024 07:20 IST

The crime in Kolkata has once again sparked larger conversations about gender inequality, violence against women and the absence of safe public spaces for them.

Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the party that sprawls across its social and political landscape, warns her police force that she will hand over a high-profile case of the rape and murder of a doctor, that has sent shock waves across the country, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – the Kolkata Police, the implication is, is not upto the task. Her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, heir apparent, resorts to the brutish language of ‘encounter’ and ‘hanging’ of the guilty. The Calcutta High Court, citing a plethora of failures on the part of the police and administration, does, in fact, hand the case over to the CBI. In West Bengal, the state has abysmally failed the 31-year-old doctor who was grievously assaulted at Kolkata’s R G Kar Hospital. The whataboutery that followed the opacity in the initial handling of the case, and flagrant missteps such as the appointment of the hospital’s principal, Sandip Ghosh, to a plum position at another Kolkata hospital immediately after he resigned, are part of a larger malaise. Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress have been electorally and politically successful, the TMC government has been lauded for its women-centric schemes and for fielding a high number of women candidates in the electoral arena, many of whom are now MPs. But that cannot paper over the disquieting fraying of institutions in West Bengal that is now on show.

‘It has become imperative,’ the Calcutta High Court said, for it to ‘exercise its jurisdiction failing which the confidence in the public mind would be shattered’. The ‘public confidence’ seems fragile in Bengal for a reason. Look at the sequence of events in this case. For hours after the young doctor’s body was found, the family was not informed. A case of ‘unnatural death’ was registered, unusual when a murder has taken place in a major hospital in one of India’s prominent cities. Why didn’t the head of the institution or any of the doctors file a written complaint? Why, as the Court pointed out, had there been no progress in the case after five days? It is no surprise, then, that the victim’s family approached the Court, having lost faith in the police of the state.

The crime in Kolkata has once again sparked larger conversations about gender inequality, violence against women and the absence of safe public spaces for them. But before and beyond that discussion, is the issue of law and order and of a shadowy political architecture that is nurtured by the ruling party even as it undermines the authority of its government. As a report in this newspaper shows, the wife of the accused had twice complained that he had assaulted her — and nothing happened. Indeed, when he was arrested, he was at the police barracks. Over the better part of 15 years, the ‘Syndicate’ — an alleged nexus between local underworld, police, politicians, government functionaries, business — has grown and spread across Bengal, taking a high toll on the health of structures of urban and rural governance. For long, the violence and impunity that marred much of the state was less visible in Kolkata. But when officials, local leaders and even government appointees wield unaccountable clout, there are no spaces that are immune. That is why when the CM and her nephew express outrage, it rings more than a little hollow.

With freedom in 1947, the birth of the people’s Constitution

As the tricolour was hoisted on August 15, 1947, Indians collectively owned the Constitution-in-the-making, reimagining freedom as a transformation of their lives and rights

Written by Rohit De, Ornit Shani

August 15, 2024 07:15 IST

The Indian Constitution has become an anthem and a rallying point for its citizens. This may look and feel new, but in fact, the everyday relevance and invocation of the Constitution has never waned in India from the moment of its making. (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)

About six months after India gained Independence, and shortly after the draft Constitution was published in February 1948, the social activist and journalist P Kodanda Rao, criticised its length. The draft ran to 209 pages, 315 articles and eight schedules. “The Indian Constitution,” he suggested, “may be so short that it may even be made the National Anthem and even inscribed on the National Flag. Only such a document will grip the imagination and evoke sentimental or emotional response, and not one with three hundred clauses which no one will ever know.” The final Constitution of 1950 was, however, even longer, with 395 articles, and 10 schedules, and it has continued to expand since then. Nonetheless, the Indian Constitution has become an anthem and a rallying point for its citizens.

This may look and feel new, but in fact, the everyday relevance and invocation of the Constitution has never waned in India from the moment of its making. This could not have been achieved by merely promulgating the Constitution in the name of the people. How, then, has the Constitution become from the time of its making, a site of struggle through which citizens assert their rights and claim remedies?

Publics across India, we discovered based on new archival materials, saw the Constitution-making as pregnant with possibilities for changing their lives for the better. Thousands of diverse groups, associations and individuals from across the length and breadth of the country developed a fever of constitutional expectations, articulating demands of the future Constitution, firing off missives to the Constituent Assembly, putting forward a range of constitutional ideas, wants and aspirations for what was to be, in their word, “our Constitution”.

Adivasi Gond students, to take one example, convened a conference in Nagpur three weeks after the Constituent Assembly first met with the object of uniting “aboriginal students”. They sent 16 demands to the Assembly, which included free and compulsory education, special scholarship, guarantees of government employment to incentivise education and representation in the university governance. The public engagement with the Constitution-making generated a churn of innovative rights claims. Informed by their daily life-experiences, the Indian public thought beyond conventional constitutional ideas, addressing, for example, disability, sexual violence, child rights and the right to food.

The public-intense engagement with the Constitution-making was unplanned and came as a surprise to the Constituent Assembly. Indeed, just ahead of the beginning of the constitutional debates, Assembly member K M Munshi suggested that the Assembly proceedings should be held behind closed doors to ensure the experts work efficiently, free from public pressure. The Indian public, however, had a different idea. They insisted on having a say and in participating. The scale of their demands ultimately forced the Constituent Assembly to open the Constitution-making process to the public. The draft Constitution of February 1948, which was now circulated for public comments, became a best seller with several reprints being sold even on railway stations. The public made it their own by producing unauthorised translations of the draft in numerous Indian languages, including Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, and Hindustani. Through this process, the Indian public was working out the Constitution’s potential implications for their lives. They criticised its limits, such as on civil liberties, and attempted to change it. At the same time, they already demanded that the government abide by the draft Constitution.

The Deaf and Dumb Society of India, as one example, pointed out to the Constituent Assembly that granting equal citizenship for all had little value to disabled people unless discrimination built into existing laws were removed, and the disabled were granted reservations in education and government jobs. The Constituent Assembly Secretariat assured them that universal adult franchise in the future Constitution would protect their rights. They responded furiously, stating that adult franchise would mean little to them unless there were constitutional guarantees for education, employment, anti-discrimination and their inclusion in the census.

Despite high levels of illiteracy, poverty, scarcity and the uncertainties wrought by the Partition, the Indian public was not a passive recipient of the Constitution, nor were they absent in its making. The process of making the Constitution animated their imagination. They understood what they were getting. And, most importantly, through collective public struggles, Indians made themselves the real protagonists in the theatre of constitutionalism. For the Indian public, therefore, the Constitution was not a sacred book or a textbook, to be interpreted only by “priests” — be they judges or legislators.

Indians made themselves constitutionalists ahead of the Constitution coming into force in 1950. As the tricolour was hoisted on August 15, 1947, their Constitution was already alive. Indians collectively owned the Constitution-in-the-making, reimagining freedom as a transformation of their lives — social, economic, and political. As they have demonstrated during the time of the constitution making and since, they have mobilised in pursuit of this transformative vision persistently.

De teaches at Yale University. Shani teaches at the University of Haifa. Their forthcoming book Assembling India’s Constitution will be published in 2025 with Cambridge University Press, and Penguin Random House India

Dear Editor, I disagree: Caste is a system, not a classification

Without a caste census, reckoning with broader inequality, debate on sub-classification of SCs ends up making Dalits pay the price for the plight of the more oppressed among them

Written by Moggallan Bharti

August 15, 2024 07:15 IST

There is no denying the fact that there are communities among SCs who have a minimal presence in higher education and public sector employment.

Few issues can be debated without nuance, least of all matters of constitutional morality. Any policy that expands social justice — including the Supreme Court’s verdict on sub classification within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes categories vis-a-vis reservation benefits — is welcome. This newspaper’s editorial, (‘Deepening justice’, IE, August 2), does so. However, in light of the apex court’s judgment, some notions must be clarified to understand the larger “circumstances of social justice” — to borrow a phrase from political theorist David Miller — for SCs and STs.

A set of institutions dispensing social and economic goods, and a state committed to social change, together constitute the conditions which are indispensable for social justice to become substantive. In simpler words, Dalits, Adivasis and numerous other marginalised communities are at a historical disadvantage, which continues to play out to this day, despite India being in its 75th year as a constitutional republic. The state’s abysmal failure in removing caste stigma, ending caste-based violence and the general apathy of the people towards the marginalised all speak to the failure of social justice measures to address the matrix of socioeconomic deprivation that we owe to the caste system.

The first — and necessary — step to meaningfully address the glaring social inequalities in India is to carry out a comprehensive caste census across the country. This must not be limited to disadvantaged groups alone — it must be include all the sections of society

This requires some elaboration.

There is no denying the fact that there are communities among SCs who have a minimal presence in higher education and public sector employment. (It bears repeating that the collective share of Scheduled Castes as a whole is significantly low in these sectors, despite reservation). Caste data from the 2011 national Census — and there has been no Census since — which enumerates SCs and STs, does provide a basic picture of the internal socioeconomic differentiation within these categories. There is a case for doing more here, so that underrepresented communities can be brought into the net of reservation. However, the explanations for the glaring inequalities vis-à-vis accessing reservation isn’t in the perceived discrimination of “better off” SCs against “worse off” SCs. There are several other reasons. Let me just go into two of them.

First, while the privileged castes, due to their social positioning, are conspicuous by their presence in almost all the important public institutions of higher education and public sector employment, the underprivileged, particularly Dalits, have seen significant improvement in their access to higher education only after the promulgation of the Constitution of India. The constitutional republic became a possibility because of the social and political movements that has preceded it, and laid down the rules for social and political representation essential for a democratic polity. This politics of representation imbued with the larger philosophy of social justice has been the at the heart of Dalit politics ever since.

Dalits have been striving hard to build a socially just country, in which they participate as equals as envisaged by Ambedkar. That a vast section could only claim their rights because of their empowerment through politics — and one of the most important preconditions of such a politics was to leave their caste occupation and embrace the world of protest, change and emancipation through learning. Effectively then, social mobility among the Scheduled Castes is directly proportional to their untethering from the stigmatised caste occupation. The section that lags behind in their access to reservation is chiefly because of their indifference to this politics of empowerment embedded in Ambedkar’s philosophy of a socially, economically and politically just society.

Secondly, and this is connected to the first, the reason for the under-representation of certain sub-castes within SCs is due to their general backwardness arising from low education and income levels, as professor Sukhadeo Thorat, among others, have argued recently. The under-representation of these subcastes owes to truncated capabilities among them — a direct result of the lack of politicisation – and not due to the discrimination at the hands of other Scheduled Castes. The impression that the underrepresented among SCs owe their condition to the better-represented presumes that these social groups are a standalone, singular grouping, isolated from the larger scheme of graded inequality inherent in the caste system. This diverts attention from the inhuman caste system, and creates an impression that it’s Dalits who must bear the responsibility and culpability for those among them who have the least. In reality, their collective disempowered social status is due to the ideology of the caste system as a whole.

We cannot remain oblivious to caste — some even deny its existence as an axis of inequality — when it comes to the sometimes deplorable behaviour of upper castes while at the same time becoming a consociation society with concerns about extending reservation benefits for neediest when it comes to Dalits.

I am sure there is a possibility of sub-classification among the upper castes as well. After all, they too are not a homogenous group of marauding oppressors — there does indeed exist an enlightened sub-set within them that is anti-caste.

The writer teaches at the School of Development Studies, Dr B R Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD)

India’s aspirants need someone to help them dream

Let’s pledge to ensure that hope can become disappointment but it should never turn into despair

Written by Nanditesh Nilay

August 15, 2024 07:00 IST

This Independence Day, let’s remember that the key to aspiration is hope and because of the numbers, more will fail than succeed.

This Independence Day, as we unfurl the flag and sing the national anthem, let’s spare a thought for The Aspirant. Of course, all 1.4 billion of us, in this our 77th year, aspire towards the ‘better,’ whatever that may be, but The Aspirant is the young man or woman working hard, away from public glare, to find a tiny door in the massive, impregnable wall known as the system: Trying to crack an entrance exam, a job interview, find a bed in a hospital or a seat in the sleeper coach — not Vande Bharat — or a foothold on the ladder that leads to someplace higher.

The last few weeks have shown them, and us, that even 77 years into freedom, what a challenge it is. More than 26 lakh NEET examinees spend endless days and nights waiting for the system to decide if they have to take a retest or not, all because of a few corrupt citizens. Three university graduates, all bright and talented, find themselves under rainwater which colludes with the system to snuff out their lives. All they had hoped for was to become a civil servant and help other aspirants realise their potential in a village, a district. A woman doctor returning after her night shift is raped and killed. We are now fighting a war over her soul on Instagram, calling each other names, rather than confronting the reality that stares at us: India has improved in a million ways since that tryst-of-destiny midnight but in a million new ways, it is still a work in progress.

In any society, politics, governance and citizen behaviour are inevitably extensions of human relationships. How we engage with each other, and how we transact with each other is how relationships play out in our democratic institutions as well — we often forget that our MPs and MLAs are MPs and MLAs because of our vote and our vote is shaped by how we conduct ourselves outside the polling booth. In our schools, homes, and workplaces, do we cut corners, do we take the cheap shot, do we put down a rival? Do we push an application of a friend’s child rather than one unknown and less entitled? Morality and ethics are not principles, they are hidden in the list of items in our daily to-do list.

That rainy day, the students in Rau’s basement library would have been studying politics, science, history, geography, disaster management, literature, sociology, India’s Five-Year plans and the country’s space programme, knowing that they were in a quiet place where they could concentrate. What they could not read was us, their fellow Indians: The owners of that building, the contractor and the municipal corporation officer as well as their teachers who, every day, told them about dreams but were disconnected from their reality and, of course, the local MP, the local MLA, the local thana. It was their job, it was our job, to ensure that no one is killed reading in a library. But we have all got away and this Independence Day, we shall forget.

This Independence Day, let’s remember that the key to aspiration is hope and because of the numbers, more will fail than succeed. So let’s pledge to ensure that hope may become disappointment, but it should never turn into despair. That is why each suicide note from Kota is a call for national action and yet, it continues to be treated like an unfortunate postcard from this city of dreams. Talented artists convert that trauma into successful TV shows and our world goes on.

As a first step, can we start thinking of ways other than exams where the odds are as skewed as in a lottery? In a deeply unequal society, how do we design a level-playing field? As parents, how can we stop thinking of our children only in terms of their national examination rank? We need to change. At the heart of this change, lies the fact that a nation of The Aspirant needs a nation of The Teacher and The Parent, who stitch the safety net for all our children. Protection, care and nurture become the key imperatives of policy. The three who died in that Delhi basement working hard chasing their dreams were our children, the doctor who was murdered in Kolkata this week was our daughter. Can this be our pledge this August 15? Can we say, to our children and others’ children: Happy Independence Day, you can depend on us.

The writer is the author of Being Good, Aaiye, Insaan Banen and Ethikos.

The writer is the author of Being Good, Aaiye, Isaan Banen and Ethikos. He teaches and trains courses on ethics, values and behaviour

Shanta Gokhale writes: On Independence Day, of freedoms and unfreedoms

The courage to value freedom and strive for it begins at home and at school

Written by Shanta Gokhale

Updated: August 15, 2024 06:54 IST

Fear is the arch enemy of freedom. Machiavelli argues that a ruler who puts fear into his people is better able than the one who preaches love, to suppress dissent and rebellion and thereby preserve law and order.

I was exactly six when India became a free country. What a day that was. Memory being what it is, I only remember the mad exultation all around and three close-knit families from the neighbourhood piling into a large van to go see the lights in south Bombay. Victoria Terminus all lit up. The Municipal Corporation too. The Old Lady of Bori Bunder? I’m not sure. What I do remember is thousands of people milling around, grinning without reason.

Winning independence for the country was not winning freedom for citizens. That happened only three years later. I was nine when the Constitution of India came into force and we were granted the rights to equality, freedom of religion, cultural practice, education and, most importantly, to freedom of speech and expression. This is the freedom I fight for as a journalist and writer. This is the freedom at whose altar Salman Rushdie lost precious years of his life being ‘protected’ and, decades later, his right eye.

For me, the pain of a writer deprived of the freedom to write is encapsulated in an image from Tagore’s story ‘Khata’. In this simply-told tale, little Uma’s most precious possession is her khata, her notebook, in which she scribbles her unformed observations. Married off at nine, she carries the notebook with her. Without the automatic right to scribble in it in her husband’s home, she writes behind closed doors. Uma is discovered. Her three envious sisters-in-law alert her husband. He, educated and supposedly liberal, snatches the notebook away from her, never to return it. Uma lies on the floor sobbing her heart out. The autocratic husband looks on. The sisters-in-law giggle.

As a pre-teen I had a notebook in which I wrote stuff. My mother preserved it for years till I junked it. There were women even then who wrote under pseudonyms, to protect their families from the ignominy of having daughters-in-law who wrote ‘all sorts of things’. A writer needs absolute freedom to write. Which means she needs absolute freedom to think. Which means she needs absolute freedom to be who she is, or rather to become who she wants to be, her writing being her way to becoming that.

Let us bring Sartre into this for a moment. He said your birth gives you existence. Thereafter, it is your responsibility to create your essence, the you-ness of you. There are those, however, whose minds are so shackled by other people’s expectations that, even when they are offered freedom on a silver salver, they do not have the courage to take it. The hero of Sartre’s play No Exit, cannot walk out of hell even when the door is thrown wide open, because his mind is unfree.

The courage to value freedom and strive for it begins at home and at school. ‘Why’ is a sound question for a child to ask. If the answer, whether from parent or teacher, is ‘because I say so’, the child is likely to grow up valuing obedience over freedom and become the kind of citizen an authoritarian state loves.

Fear is the arch enemy of freedom. Machiavelli argues that a ruler who puts fear into his people is better able than the one who preaches love, to suppress dissent and rebellion and thereby preserve law and order. Such a ruler is pathologically unable to deal with the variety that is the human being. He orders uniformity in thought and belief. If left unopposed, he might also go on to dictate the words that writers may or may not use in their stories, the subjects that artists may or may not choose for their work. He does not know that the artist works within a strict discipline of his own making. For freedom is discipline.

We have always had censorship, both official and of the street. Today, social media has taken over from the street. Hurt sensibilities are the egg shells that writers must constantly walk on. Perumal Murugan discovered this to his horror, ultimately leading to his declaration ‘Perumal Murugan the writer is dead.’ Writers are not out to hurt anybody deliberately. Indeed, when they are at work, they are hardly conscious of places and people beyond those taking shape on their computer screens.

The ultimate test of a writer’s belief in freedom is the freedom she is willing to grant her characters to be themselves. She might begin with a notion of who they are; but if she insists that they must be just that and no more, she has on hand stiff marionettes instead of human beings. However, if she gives them space to breathe and grow, she creates flesh-and-blood human beings with a will, a language and responses of their own. The writer of fiction is assiduous in trying to seek out the complicated truths of human action and interaction. Literature is the best way of telling such nuanced truths. An autocratic state, having no truck with truth, feels threatened by writers for this reason.

The journalist too cherishes the freedom to seek and report the truth. Her truth is a meticulous assemblage of facts unflinchingly documented. An autocratic state, fearing truth, imprisons its journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that 320 journalists were behind bars worldwide as on December 1, 2023.

Freedom is not a set of abstruse abstractions. Freedom is what we want on the ground. Freedom to practise our professions. Freedom to agree if we agree; disagree if we disagree. New ideas are good for the world. I realise that demands for freedom to dress in a way that makes us comfortable, to eat what pleases our palates, to believe in the gods of our choice (or not believe) come from a place of privilege. If I belonged to the remaining 80 per cent of this country’s population, I would have no time to think and talk about freedom. I would be too deeply embroiled in the struggle to live with dignity — clothed, fed and sheltered.

Gokhale is a writer, translator and critic

On Pakistan’s Independence Day, hope for the future in an Olympic gold

As the country completes 77 years of freedom, the Pakistani press discusses the political, economic and social challenges that remain

Written by Adya Goyal

August 14, 2024 22:02 IST

Gold medallist Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan celebrates. (REUTERS Photo)

August 14, 2024, marks Pakistan’s 78th Independence Day. Pakistan’s press reflects on the vision of the country’s founding fathers and discusses the many ways in which it has fallen short of that. With the economy in dire straits and seemingly chaotic politics, it is the citizens who are losing out.

Dawn ascribes blame to the “ruling elite” who have “done little of substance to dispel the clouds of doom.” Recalling the vision of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the time of independence, the editorial laments that on the axes of “democracy, constitutionalism, protecting minorities, eliminating corruption”, the country has “done the exact opposite”.

In contrast to Dawn’s assertion, Express Tribune’s columnist Majid Burfat assigns responsibility to leaders as well as citizens and believes that Pakistan’s story “is a narrative awaiting a transformative rewrite, a future yearning to be sculpted.” Burfat lays out the current challenges while acknowledging earlier triumphs saying, “As Pakistan celebrates its 77th Independence Day, it must confront the dual reality of past achievements and present failures.”

On the economic front, however, it seems that there is consensus on the long path to redemption that the nation must undertake to pull itself out of an impending recession. News International columnist Abid Qaiyum Suleri weighs in here comparing the development trajectory of Pakistan with three other countries that gained independence in the 20th century. He concludes that the reasons for Pakistan’s situation may be its inconsistent policies. While the others maintained “consistent economic development frameworks” for the most part, “Pakistan’s economic policies have frequently shifted between a controlled economy, Islamic socialism, nationalisation, Islamisation, and privatisation lacking a coherent long-term strategy.”

But prioritising investments in “education, healthcare, nutrition security, and technology” will help the country to “lay a strong foundation for sustained economic growth and improve the overall quality of life for its citizens.”

Dawn’s columnist Rafia Zakaria points to the challenge presented by “youth bulge” in Pakistan: “Having a large population of youngsters virtually guarantees that there will be too few resources to give these young people a decent existence”. Coincidentally, the world recently celebrated International Youth Day on August 12, which, according to News International’s editorial, is an “appropriate” reminder: “For Pakistan to be a success, it needs to create an environment that matches the needs and dreams of its young people.”

Citing governance, security and social disorder with the people of Balochistan repeatedly facing terror attacks, unprecedented inflation and oppression, The Nation emphasises the divisiveness that has taken hold in the country. The editorial refers to the issue of Pashtuns who reside both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which “has caused countless problems” and mentions the Kashmir issue.

Even so, with Arshad Nadeem’s gold at the Olympics this year, Pakistan’s first medal since 1992, there is an undercurrent of hope. Mahir Ali, another columnist at Dawn, begins by saying, “A singular athletic triumph in Paris triggered spontaneous jubilation in the run-up to Independence Day in a nation that might otherwise have wondered what was worth celebrating 77 years after its birth.” Express Tribune believes that “though the chips are down for it at the home front and internationally, it [Pakistan] is determined to overcome the odds.”

adya.goyal@expressindia.com

At coaching centres, education is just another product

Education that equips children to flourish not only as individuals but also to contribute to flourishing societies and economies cannot be found in after-school tuition shops. For this, we must return to the school

Written by Ameeta Mulla Wattal

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 20:02 IST

Education has become the product of a multi-million dollar coaching industry. Our country has got addicted to coaching and has no intention of humanising the system. (File)

Three UPSC aspirants died last month as the result of a building code violation in a coaching centre in Delhi. A large number of students have committed suicide over the last five years in different coaching centres across the country. The coaching industry, which generates a revenue of several thousand crore annually, with an annual growth rate of 7-10 per cent, has taken the lives of our children in one way or another.

Guidelines for the regulation of coaching centres have been issued periodically, the latest just a few months ago. The government of India, the Supreme Court, high courts, Ministry of Education and citizen pressure groups continue to either release directives or voice their concerns, and yet parents and coaching centres circumvent these regulations and our young become fodder for these tutoring machines.

As a society, we love ratings, marks, grades, percentages, measurements. We quantify and qualify everyone and everything. Guarantees and warranties of products obsess us, perhaps because we believe that we must get the product that we deserve.

Education has become the product of a multi-million dollar coaching industry. Our country has got addicted to coaching and has no intention of humanising the system. Seats in professional institutions are too few and the rewards for getting in are great. The average expenditure of a child on coaching is more than the fees at a good private school. Parents sometimes are not prepared to pay the latter, but are ready to spend thousands on after-school tutoring.

Coaching centres employ marketing strategies that promise to teach lessons that children have yet to learn in school. Tapping into the anxiety and desires of parents and children, creating the fear of missing out on some imaginary livelihood success is how this market controls people.

The number of students attending these classes has grown exponentially. However, their results in entrance tests and board exams remain the same. Coaching centres are involved with a great deal of spoon-feeding, where students do not think for themselves.The teaching style is one of creating fear of failure and exploiting it.

Ministry guidelines for coaching institutes are supposed to align with the key tenets of the National Education Policy, which mandates safe and sufficient infrastructure, student-centric classes, ethical code of conduct, student aptitude, interest, accessibility and mental health awareness. This subtext does not exist in any coaching centre, because the aim of the centre is to make money, cram information and pack the batch off and start a fresh one with great speed. Strangely, there is no check on what coaching institutes offer whereas the amount of red tape involved in opening schools and colleges is phenomenal and the regulations are very strict.

If the NEP is to succeed then coaching centres should not have a place in education. Reforms must target not just the symptoms of the dysfunction but also the causes. Perhaps the schools are also to blame. Many teachers who don’t make any effort in school tend to work harder in a coaching class than in a routine classroom. Students feel less engaged in the classroom because they feel real learning happens in coaching classes, whereas the school is a place for socialising and de-stressing. A rigorous evaluation system is needed to assess teachers and principals, which includes opinion surveys by students, parents and peers and gives additional training for low-scoring staff.

Can the education policy look at a system where coaching and schooling do not exist in two different silos? Can they be merged in a manner where the school provides specific skills to explore the potential of an individual in the area of his or her choice and train them for entrance exams? This will add variety to the learning activities that a child can access, from mathematics to Bharatanatyam to football.

Parents should allow children to grow organically. Society needs not just doctors and engineers, but also teachers, artists, dancers, chefs, architects, administrative officers.

Can governments summon the will to change school practices and enable the personal growth of the next generation? As humanity moves towards the mid-21st century, we face profound, specific challenges. Isn’t it time to recast the purpose of education and link it back to human flourishing?

Education for human flourishing will not replace the learning we have today. It will nurture in every child a suite of distinctive human intelligences, which will equip them to flourish not only as individuals but also to contribute to flourishing societies and economies, in balance with the planet.

This learning cannot be found in after-school tuition shops. It is the school that looks at the whole child.

As we face an increasingly fragile future, the answer is not to do better at what we have done before. We have to do something new. As H G Wells said, human history is a “race between education and catastrophe”.

The writer is chairperson and Executive Director Education, Innovations and Training, DLF Schools and Scholarship Programmes

On sub-classification of SC, ST, apex court should clear confusion over creamy layer

The verdict should lead to conversations on caste census and the 50 per cent limit on quotas

Written by D. Raja

August 14, 2024 15:51 IST

The SC should clear the confusion created by four of its judges who advocated for the delineation of a creamy layer among SCs and STs. (Express Archives)

The Supreme Court’s recent verdict on caste classification has led to a renewed debate on caste. Several commentators tend to see caste and its effects as remnants of the past and hope that changes in attitude would hasten their end. It has taken much fight to situate caste as a deeply political matter. Caste continues to be amongst the biggest determinants of the country’s polity, economy and society. One may appreciate the SC’s intent in expanding the benefits of quotas to the most marginalised communities. However, the verdict has too many loopholes which will hinder the deepening of democracy.

Political equality for all was implemented in India’s deeply hierarchical society. The precedence accorded to political equality over social and economic inequality has meant the silencing and invisibilisation of SCs and STs. To understand the gravity of the SC judgment, let us return to the Constitution’s initial vision and its promise of liberty and equality.

Article 14 ensures equality for all irrespective of religion, gender, or caste. At the same time, the Constitution drafters recognised that a lone provision will not overturn the skewed power dynamics in the country. To actualise the vision of equality, affirmative action was deemed necessary. To tackle economic inequality, the Directive Principles of State Policy state that “the State shall, in particular, strive to minimise the inequalities in income”. These provisions are meant to work in tandem.

Indian society, as Ambedkar rightly pointed out, is a conglomeration of various caste groups organised hierarchically. The Brahmanical order is responsible for the exclusion, lack of access, brute violence and utter humiliation experienced by Dalits and Adivasis. Operating parallelly, in recent years, is the myth of castelessness amongst savarnas — this is also behind the flawed logic of merit.

The abysmally low conviction rates under the provisions of SC/ST POA Act and the unfulfillment of existing provisions of reservation in employment and education at all levels are testaments to Brahmanical hegemony. Examining the effects of reservation on various communities of the SCs and STs could be a democratic step. But not answering questions related to the implementation of the current affirmative action policy is downright immoral.

Neo-liberal policies have shrunk opportunities for secure and dignified employment. The government’s apathy to employment creation and its reluctance to adequately increase the seats in public educational institutes is creating dissatisfaction among people because they continue to aspire to work in the public sector. The crisis in agriculture has pushed several communities to demand quotas.

The privatisation of public sector industries and education have made the issue more complex. The situation demands long-term solutions — more employment avenues and educational opportunities, expansion of the reservation policy and quotas in the private sector. While allowing for sub-classification, the SC verdict did not touch upon the overall cap of 50 per cent reservations imposed by the Court itself. As many commentators have pointed out, the 50 per cent limit on reservations and the lack of quotas in the private sector are major reasons for resentment among deprived sections. The 50 per cent cap needs to be removed to ensure that backward sections get appropriate representation, including in the judiciary and private sector.

The SC should clear the confusion created by four of its judges who advocated for the delineation of a creamy layer among SCs and STs. This has created fears that reservation will come to an end. The basis for reservation for SCs and STs is historical discrimination and exclusion. The creamy layer criteria will attenuate this drastically.

Moving ahead, the judiciary’s inconsistent position on affirmative action policy should be addressed. While Tamil Nadu has 69 per cent reservation, protected by the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule, the Bihar High Court has struck down a similar extension in reservation in the state. The SC has held the 10 per cent EWS reservation as legal, despite the increase in reservation breaching the 50 per cent cap. Such inconsistencies must be ironed out. State governments are best equipped to decide on quotas following scientific assessment of deprivation. However, the current data on social groups seems to be inadequate. A caste census is necessary to measure the standing of different social groups and the degree of representation at various levels. People’s aspirations should be reflected in policy-making and concrete and scientifically gathered data should be the base for inclusive and enabling policies.

At the same time, several groups with vested interests are trying to solidify caste and caste-based practices. The goal of social justice, as stated by Ambedkar is the “annihilation of caste”. To usher in an era where caste discrimination, class exploitation and patriarchal subjugation have no place, equality of opportunity should be extended to all those who face marginalisation. The SC verdict should lead to introspection on our current policies and their inadequacies must be analysed.

The writer is General Secretary, CPI

From Arab Spring to Bangladesh regime fall — ‘jobless growth’ is a national security issue

The ILO had warned that the youth unemployment crisis, especially after the pandemic, was a ticking ‘time bomb’, more so in lower-middle-income countries. Politicians cutting across partisan trenches in India will be profusely naïve to ignore the lessons from other countries like Bangladesh

Written by Sanjay Jha , Snehasis Mukhopadhyay

August 14, 2024 13:20 IST

Activists during a protest march against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government in Dhaka on August 2. (Photo: AP)

On August 6, the streets of Dhaka echoed with the cries of the desperate and the defiant, as an uprising ignited the city with unparalleled fury, one that had been simmering for far too long. Six months into an electoral triumph, alleged to be a rigged project, it had been ignored by an arrogant, authoritarian dispensation. Over 100 people were killed in a single day, the acrid scent of smoke mingling with the metallic tang of blood, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had to finally resign and flee the country as violence and anarchy grew unchecked and unrelenting. The world’s most celebrated garment exporter had suddenly become a quasi-banana republic. Most analysts from Bangladesh believe that the protests that turned egregiously bloody weren’t solely about the 30 per cent quota reserved for the families of freedom fighters of the 1971 War of Independence; rather, they reflected the youth’s broader frustrations with limited economic opportunities, stifling autocracy, and a miasma of hopelessness.

A national security issue

In the early 1990s, economist Nick Perna first coined the term, “jobless growth”: It refers to a situation where the GDP could be increasing but employment is either stagnant or decreasing. Many nations, with their eyes firmly fixed on the rising graphs of GDP, a low-hanging fruit for political campaigning, make the critical error of treating “jobless growth” as merely an economic anomaly, without realising its deleterious social consequences. They perceive it as a temporary divergence and a solvable riddle within the limits of economic theory and time (the hard truth is that most politicians don’t understand the E of economics). But history is a cruel leveller; it can shatter the rose-tinted glasses that create these spectacular illusions.

The fact is that jobless growth is one of the major national security issues in low-middle-income countries. The Arab Spring of 2010 and the January 25 Revolution in Egypt, the persistent protests seen in numerous African and Asian countries, serve to illustrate the destabilising effects of jobless growth on national security. The ILO had warned that the youth unemployment crisis, especially after the pandemic, was a ticking “time bomb”, but most countries were blissfully nonchalant, happy with their K-shaped recoveries. The Gen Z protests in Kenya forced the government to take corrective measures following police brutality. If we were to add the cost of mental health on jobless youth, it would be astronomical. Bangladesh stands as the most recent illustration of this trend.

The cost of willful ignorance

Richard Nixon’s national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, once disdainfully referred to Bangladesh as a “bottomless basket.” Today, however, Bangladesh’s banking sector is a model for many countries, and its export-led growth model has yielded considerable returns for the nation. Its per capita income is now higher than that of India. The biggest issue plaguing Bangladesh is jobless growth: The country’s GDP was growing at 6-7 per cent in the last decade, yet, its employment was growing at only 0.9 per cent. Since 2002, the elasticity of employment growth to economic progress has markedly diminished across various demographic categories — urban, male, and female. And much like most myopic low-middle-income nations, the policymakers of Bangladesh failed to grasp the political perils inherent in such a growth paradox. Extensive research across numerous countries has shown a strong positive correlation between unemployment and political violence; the rise of social media has given the youth greater networking platforms which can overnight morph into a gigantic movement.

Sheikh Hasina, blindsided by kowtowing sycophants, missed the woods for the trees. The trigger was the abject dreamlessness of Bangladesh’s young. A maelstrom of disorder followed.

The disquieting phenomenon of jobless growth is on the cusp of eliciting intensified scrutiny, particularly in the aftermath of the recent vicissitudes of Bangladesh’s volatile society. Politicians cutting across partisan trenches in India will be profusely naïve to ignore the lessons from other countries like Bangladesh. From 1972 to 1983, every 1 per cent uptick in GDP growth resulted in a 0.5 per cent increase in employment (See Figure). In the last decade, however, GDP has grown at 5.9 per cent but employment growth has slowed down to 1 per cent or even less (the government data has been furiously disputed by economic experts). Thus, each 1 per cent expansion in the GDP now engenders a trifling 0.1 per cent rise in employment; it is ridiculously disproportionate. Economic growth, when it fails to create jobs and uplift the broader population struggling at the bottom and middle of the growth pyramid is not just meaningless — it is palpably fraught with a fallible social/economic model. The frustration born from unmet expectations of the youth, treated with sustained condescension and callousness, is a formidable trigger that can assume alarming avatars. Why India’s leaders remain oblivious to this is baffling.

Denial is not the answer

Disconcertingly, like Bangladesh, every government economist continues to dismiss jobless growth, let alone acknowledge its destabilising effects on the nation and the economy. Recently, one economic advisor branded jobless growth as a “red herring” — a term that, in this context, seems more apt for describing the smoke-and-mirrors projections coming from the powers that be. Not to be outdone, another advisor hailed the Modi government’s job creation as a historical record; a hallucination so monumental it seems to have slipped under the radar of common sense and statistical rigour.

Indeed, the Modi government should worry about the many cases of cancelled examinations (NEET, etc), scams in UPSC hiring, the 9.2 per cent unemployment in June 2024 (as per CMIE), the 50 lakh people applying for 60,000 jobs to become constables in the Uttar Pradesh government, etc. It is a long list.

Politicians must stop the braggadocio about becoming the third-largest and a $5-trillion economy (which would happen inevitably as per normal growth under even a mediocre government) and instead focus on health and education, per capita income, reducing income inequalities, improving India’s Human Development Index value, social security benefits, addressing informal sector woes, minimum wages, etc, and create an egalitarian society based on inclusive growth. Budget 2024 was a manifestation of the fact that the government has belatedly acknowledged the ballooning catastrophe on jobs, but it was like applying a band-aid to a broken bone. The process of mainstreaming India’s youth must start with robust earnestness. The time starts now.

Jha is a former Congress leader and a political analyst. Mukhopadhyay analyses data on economic and political trends

August 14, 1984, Forty Years Ago: Sri Lankan army troops set fire to a Tamil-dominated town

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 14, 1984, Forty Years Ago.

By: Editorial

August 14, 2024 08:05 IST

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 14, 1984, Forty Years Ago.

Sri Lankan army troops set fire to the entire Tamil-dominated Manner town in retaliation against a guerilla ambush of a military convoy. Thirty Tamil extremists were reportedly killed in an encounter with the security forces at Kaithady, Chunnakam and Kayta. Ten extremists were killed in an exchange of fire at Kaithady and 15 while the army was clearing “roadblocks” set up by the extremists.

LA Olympics End

A light-radiating spaceship and a friendly “visitor” from another planet closed the 1984 Olympic Games in a dazzling science fiction sound-and-light show. With the Los Angeles Coliseum plunged into darkness, the mock spaceship, its lights changing colour against the background of ear-splitting “Star Wars” synthesiser music, hovered over the stadium.

NSA Amendment

Total chaos prevailed in the Lok Sabha when the National Security (second amendment) Bill, 1984, was being voted upon after a day-long debate. Amid strong protests from the entire opposition against the chair’s ruling that only one member of a party would be allowed to speak at the third reading stage, the Deputy Speaker, G Lakshmanan, announced, albeit inaudibly, that the bill had been passed and abruptly adjourned the House.

New Punjab Adviser

Several top-level appointments have been made as part of the Centre’s plan to revamp the Punjab administration. R V Subramaniam, who was heading the expert committee on Punjab, has been appointed an adviser to the Punjab Governor Satarawala. The appointment of S S Dhanoa, as the new chief secretary of the state, has been finalised. Both Subramaniam and Dhanoa have been asked to takeover their jobs on August 16.

Trump and Musk are not as entertaining as they think they are

They are adept at controlling news cycles and grabbing eyeballs. But it seems that the art of conversation is just a little more difficult than demagoguery

By: Editorial

August 14, 2024 08:00 IST

The live stream was delayed by about 40 minutes

Kim Kardashian’s crown is safe, Bigg Boss will continue to thrive. The great challengers to “reality” TV — disgruntled billionaires playing victim — are still a force to reckon with in politics, business, conflicts and many things besides. What they are not is entertaining. Beyond the politics, that was the most obvious takeaway from Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) boss Elon Musk’s two-hour interview with the man hoping, once again, to be US President, Donald Trump, streamed on the former’s social media platform on August 13.

The essence of the conversation was encapsulated in the first few minutes — with conspiracy theories, self-promotion and a glancing acquaintance with facts. The live stream was delayed by about 40 minutes and Musk blamed the glitch on a distributed denial-of-service attack — the server was flooded with users in an attempt to cause a crash. He provided no evidence for this claim. Trump, for his part, marveled at the number of users, perhaps confusing curiosity for support. Both abused their bete noires — Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Democrats and migrants for the politician; regulation, taxation and those who impose them for the tech bro. It was all predictable. More importantly, it was all boring.

Both Trump and Musk have gone beyond their core competence, to great success. From real estate to TV to the White House; from South Africa to space, and perhaps to Mars. They are adept at controlling news cycles and grabbing eyeballs. But the art of conversation is just a little more difficult than demagoguery. And not everyone can be a reality star, a la the Kardashians. For both the influencer and the interviewer, that’s good news.

The post-Mandal moment is here — and it calls for a new politics

By opening up the possibility of regrouping of caste blocs and by asking uncomfortable questions about who benefits from reservation and by employing the clumsy concept of creamy layer, Supreme Court's sub-quota ruling has thrown up crucial questions

Written by Suhas Palshikar

Updated: August 14, 2024 20:23 IST

Whether the Court had ruled this way or not, the post-Mandal moment was already here and needed a response from academia, policymakers and social activists to three issues.

The recent ruling of the Supreme Court allowing states to sub-classify SCs and STs for the purpose of preferential treatment in reservation has produced two pronounced responses: Political parties are trying to duck the issue by not committing themselves while most proponents of the reservation policy are upset about and critical of the ruling. Both the silence and the criticism represent the unease with the post-Mandal moment. The ruling itself, and the various judgments, are characteristic of the concerns and confusions of the post-Mandal moment.

Mandal — understood as caste politics — has had two connected but separate trajectories: One pre-Mandal and the other occasioned by the Mandal Commission Report. The former is a historically anchored life of democratisation, involving long-term struggles against caste. In this sense, the life of Mandal had its origin in the writings and work of Jyotiba Phule and Periyar. This pre-Mandal life of the idea of Mandal was made possible by BR Ambedkar. Subsequently, and as a consequence, the question about the pichchadas (backward castes) drew attention since 1967 in the universe of electoral politics.

The other life of Mandal revolved around the question of reservation — this was one that shaped post-1967 politics in the north. This second life of Mandal culminated in a complicated mix. Having hit the headlines in the 1990s, by the turn of the century, Mandal politics in the electoral arena had run its course.

But by then, a noisy consensus was shaped among parties and political elites that competitive and aggressive fortification of the reservation regime was the only and sufficient flag-bearer of the social justice policy. The absorption of Mandal politics by various parties, notably the BJP, and after a quarter century, now by Congress, has been accompanied by the reductionist approach that numerical representation is an adequate response to a more complicated social reality of injustice.

In the pre-life of Mandal, questions of government policy were intrinsically based on the larger goal of “anti-caste” politics – that is, on the goal of doing away with caste-based injustice and unfairness. This was the most valuable contribution of Ambedkar to the discourse of social justice and democracy. By the turn of the century, that umbilical cord with more fundamental issues got severed. This development meant that rather than Mandal 3.0, we entered into a post-Mandal moment where the anti-caste context got lost and concern with reservation got distorted.

Mandal as an idea represented three sets of contradictory and yet complementary elements. One, it set off a critical examination of our public sphere in terms of mirror representation and also gave rise to the substantive question of a fair share in power. Though connected, these are distinct sides of the same issue: One looks at easy solutions and the other warns us about the monumental challenge. This made us aware of the narrow social base of our elites and at the same time, moving farther from crude enumeration of everyone’s caste background, this element drew attention to the asymmetry of power.

Two, the Mandal moment emphasised the need to fortify the reservation regime — by moving beyond SCs and STs, by addressing questions of reservation in promotion and by rejecting the reservation/merit binary. At the same time, the Mandal moment also sensitised policy discourse to the need to permeate actual policy choices with a concern for social justice in the broader sense. The emphasis on reservation often led to easy escapes for policymakers. The question of policy based on social justice was easily eclipsed in the shadow of the bureaucratisation of the reservation regime and consequent endless recourse to the judiciary.

Three, in the realm of mobilisation, the Mandal moment strengthened the politics of building social blocs. This could enrich democracy and also enable the backward communities to engage in politics beyond localised vote banks. But simultaneously, the Mandal moment also underscored the aspirations of individual castes leading to single caste identities as the bases of formation of perpetually competing political groupings. In the case of each of these three elements, thus, the possible gains were often neutralised by short-term and cosmetic tactical advantages.

Much of the disappointment with the SC ruling emanates from a comfortable security in continuing to recognise caste blocs that made sense half a century ago. It is believed that various legal fortifications and expansions to the existing reservation regime are adequate state responses to pacify the Mandal energy without having to destabilise the social equilibrium of power. By opening up the possibility of regrouping of caste blocs and by asking (perhaps as obiter dicta, and even juridically unnecessarily) uncomfortable questions about who benefits from reservation and by employing the clumsy concept of creamy layer, the ruling has thrown up crucial questions.

Whether the Court had ruled this way or not, the post-Mandal moment was already here and needed a response from academia, policymakers and social activists to three issues. First, if the reservation policy represented an urgent need to intervene in caste-related asymmetry, how do we tweak that policy from time to time in order to ensure that it redresses the more disprivileged from among the intended beneficiaries? Two, as Indian society moves away from an easily comprehensible overlap of caste, class and power, how do we address the new labyrinths of power asymmetry? Reservation for EWS was a smart way to avoid this question. But the question is bound to re-surface. Three, do we expect the SC, ST and OBC to be seen as permanent blocs? Democratic politics will inevitably bring internal political divisions in these administratively approved blocs. Is our politics ready to imagine and shape new social blocs that will attend to both socio-economic and democratic compulsions that lead to disintegration of the existing blocs?

The responses are bound to be tentative, pragmatic and even crude. But responses will surely be needed. Consider the existing challenges. Among many castes from SCs and tribes from STs, there is a long-standing and deep concern over their condition. This results in distrust and competition within the SC/ST population. Most states have already grouped OBCs into sub-categories in order to allay the fears of “more backward”. A number of politically strong agrarian castes are waging struggles for reservation in response to their deteriorating condition in the material sphere.

These and similar challenges suggest that issues will have some continuities but many discontinuities from the Mandal moment and, similarly, the frameworks to define the issues and analyse them will have to be freshly worked out. While the language from the Mandal era may still appear attractive, a post-Mandal moment has arrived — requiring a different language and a different politics.

The writer, based in Pune, taught political science

RBI employment data should be read with a caveat

Considering the methodological limitations of the dataset, it is surprising that claims should be made of rapid growth of jobs.

Written by Amitabh Kundu , P C Mohanan

Updated: August 14, 2024 10:32 IST

It is necessary that we examine the methodology of generating the data, going into sectoral details and original sources.

Studies based on the KLEMS data are being widely quoted to counter claims of poor job creation in the country. This database has been developed as part of an international project and has a very respectable parentage, nurtured by scholars from the Delhi School of Economics and ICRIER since 2009 and housed in the Reserve Bank of India since 2022. Hence, it is necessary that we examine the methodology of generating the data, going into sectoral details and original sources.

The KLEMS database consisting of data on capital (K), labour (L), energy (E), material (M) and services (S), currently available for the period 1980 to 2024, is meant to provide a “measurement tool to monitor and evaluate productivity growth at the industry level as well as the aggregate economy”. It uses data from different rounds of the employment-unemployment surveys (EUS), the periodic labour force surveys (PLFS), the National Account Statistics and the Annual Survey of Industries. In the absence of yearly data from the National Statistical Office, the available data are used as benchmarks and interpolated for other years.

As per the methodology, the EUS and PLFS data are used to determine the sectoral distribution of workers by the usual principal and subsidiary status (UPSS) for four groups — rural male, rural female, urban male and urban female. Since the surveys do not provide the absolute number of workers, the estimated worker-population ratios (WPR) for the four groups from the survey are multiplied by the total population. Population for the survey years can either be interpolated using Census numbers or taken from the population projections of the National Population Commission under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

In the methodology segment of the RBI report, it is noted that for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, the all-India figures for the employed persons are taken from the Economic Survey 2021-22. For 2020-21 onwards, population projections by the MoHFW are used. But these projections are available for males and females only, and consequently, a uniform growth is applied for projecting populations in rural and urban segments. The worker numbers are then distributed among the industry groups, considered in KLEMS, according to their shares in employment as in PLFS.

Importantly, the population figures projected by MoHFW are on the higher side due to a sharp decline in fertility rate during the period from 2010 to 2020. This implies that the total labour and workforce, obtained through the multiplication of the projected population with the WPR, would be overestimated. The estimated rural population would be higher also because it is assumed to grow at the same rate as the urban population while, empirically, the rate in rural areas is much less. Since WPR in rural areas is higher than in urban areas, the total employment generated in the years of the twenties would work out as higher than the actuals.

The forgoing explanation clearly shows that the RBI does not produce any employment figures independently. The UPSS-based WPR is used on a projected population to obtain the numbers. There is a significant drop in WPR, as per UPSS, from 2011-12 to 2017-18, as we shift from EUS to PLFS and the KLEMS assumes there is no problem of temporal comparability. The WPR, however, has gone up significantly for rural women with some increases also for the other population segments, in the subsequent years. These WPR values applied on somewhat higher population estimates, as discussed above, would produce inflated employment numbers.

In the KLEMS database, employment in agriculture increased from a near stagnant 20 crore before 2018-19 to 25 crore in 2022-23. Correspondingly, the service sector employment went up from 17.2 crore to 20.2 crore. Manufacturing employment grew from 5.5 crore to 6.3 crore.

The number of workers would go up systematically due to the population increase and the methodology of projection even when the WPR remains the same. Similarly, manufacturing employment goes up although the ratio of manufacturing to total workers goes down, as per the PLFS. It is important to note that the employment data includes those with subsidiary employment, implying the inclusion of persons having a tenuous connection with work. A large majority of them are engaged as unpaid family workers. Using EUS/PLFS data along with the projected population to claim employment generation would thus be misleading, without any reference to the nature and quality of work.

A study by economists at the SBI compares the projected total employment based on the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) data with the numbers available in the RBI KLEMS database. The ASUSE survey covers a subset of all unorganised enterprises and excludes those in construction, the corporate sector and government, besides those registered as factories and cooperatives. The survey estimated the number of persons employed in such enterprises to be only 10.96 crore. This is being inflated to claim that total employment in 2022-23 is 56.8 crore, close to KLEMS data. This needs to be investigated.

Employment in enterprise surveys indicates a position in the enterprises. It is not easily relatable to information on individuals, collected in household employment surveys, that are considered superior for employment data. Independent estimates from these two sources do not match for reasons well known. Similarly, data on the registration of MSME units in the Udyam portal usually does not imply new job creation, nor do the monthly changes in EPFO subscription mean additional employment generation.

Considering the methodological limitations of these data, it is surprising that claims should be made of a rapid growth of employment, that too of decent jobs.

Kundu is Professor Emeritus at L J University, Ahmedabad and Mohanan is a former member of National Statistical Commission

C Raja Mohan writes: Bangladesh and the ‘foreign hand’ bogey

Conspiracy theories blaming the CIA for Sheikh Hasina's ouster overestimate its capacity, avoid bigger questions. What is needed is for Delhi to look ahead, deepen ties with the new regime in Bangladesh

Written by C. Raja Mohan

Updated: August 14, 2024 10:31 IST

The student movement against quotas provided the final trigger for the political blowout. (Reuters photo)

One of the more fascinating theories in the Indian media on the fall of Sheikh Hasina suggests that Muhammad Yunus, an 84-year old economist branded as a “CIA agent”, has led the overthrow of the mighty Awami League in Dhaka and outwitted its biggest external supporter and the regional power, India.

Seriously?

Conspiracy theories have long enjoyed great currency in the Subcontinent. They don’t need proof and can’t be disproved. Rulers in South Asia have resorted to the “foreign hand” theory whenever they faced trouble at home.

Conspiracy theories were the staple of Indian politics in the second half of the 20th century. When she faced resistance against her authoritarianism, Indira Gandhi reflexively blamed the foreign hand, mostly the CIA. As she imposed Emergency in 1975, Indira Gandhi and her left supporters blamed the “fascists” at home and the “imperialists” abroad for trying to overthrow her “progressive” government.

One had thought that a “rising India” is now self-confident and secure in its own skin; and that it had overcome the impulse to blame the “foreign hand” for any unwelcome or unanticipated development. But the shock of “losing an ally” in Dhaka seems to have triggered a Delhi derangement.

Conspiracy theories pander to political prejudices and discourage common sense. They avoid reckoning with the causes of a political catastrophe staring in your face. You don’t have to be a geopolitical genius to recognise that Sheikh Hasina was increasingly unpopular. She emaciated her party and turned it into a personal fief. Repeatedly rigged elections, a hardening monopoly over power, a shrinking bubble around the great leader, and growing authoritarianism combined with post-Covid economic challenges were building up anti-regime steam in Bangladesh for a while. The student movement against quotas provided the final trigger for the political blowout.

We can certainly empathise with Sheikh Hasina for clinging to the conspiracy theory. For she might be in the very early stages of grief — denial — at the loss of power. It will be a while before she comes to terms with the sources of the tragic end to her extraordinary political career that has truly transformed Bangladesh. Hasina appears convinced that the US overthrew her because she refused to give America a military base. She is not the only South Asian leader who is blaming the US for losing power. Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, has been at it since he was defenestrated in a successful no-confidence vote in the National Assembly in April 2022. Like Hasina, Imran Khan also thinks his refusal to give a base (“absolutely not” were his famous words) was what turned America against him.

To be sure, the US military is looking for bases and facilities as it responds to the Chinese military challenge in Asia. But to suggest that the US so desperately needs bases in Bangladesh and Pakistan that it is organising coups would be outlandish. But then paranoia does not need evidence to thrive. The coup theory also gives too much credit to the CIA. The South Asian lore about the CIA’s prowess outpaces the agency’s capacity. Consider the following: The CIA could not organise the ouster of much-reviled President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela in the recent elections. The US failed to oust the communist regime in Cuba, in power for more than 60 years. Both are in America’s backyard.

The CIA is not the only one that inspires the feverish imagination of South Asian conspiracy theorists. Our own external intelligence agency, R&AW, is blamed these days for any regime change in the neighbourhood.

Whether they realise it or not, in blaming the “foreign hand”, the conspiracy theorists are indicting the Indian establishment for a major failure. If you say the CIA conducted a coup next door, right under India’s nose, which has a huge footprint in Bangladesh, you are accusing Delhi of missing the big moment in Bangladesh. A serious Indian post-mortem on the origins and evolution of the Bangladesh crisis and Delhi’s management would indeed produce valuable long-term lessons for India’s regional policy. However, it is important to remember that no power, global or regional, can control politics in areas of strategic interest. And no government, however resourceful, is immune to utterly misreading the ground situation in other countries.

Instead of taking comfort in conspiracy theories, the Indian strategic community must reflect on Hasina’s tragedy. As Shakespeare urged us in Richard the Second, “For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground/ And tell sad stories” of the fall of kings and queens.

Hasina’s story is about both triumph and tragedy. She survived against great odds, and saved the legacy of the nation’s liberation from Pakistan. Over the last 15 years, Hasina turned Bangladesh into a fast-growing economy and a “model” for other developing countries, including Pakistan to follow. She has also helped India and Bangladesh transcend some of the bitter legacies of Partition, settled the boundary dispute, ended cross-border terrorism, enhanced regional connectivity and boosted bilateral and regional trade. Like all tragic heroes, she had fatal flaws — the relentless determination to concentrate power in her hands and an inability to heal the deep political divisions in the country over its identity and history. Notwithstanding her tragic end, Hasina will go down as a truly historic figure in the evolution of the modern Subcontinent.

India has every reason to regret Hasina’s fall from power, but Delhi can’t be detained by what happened in the last few days. It must look ahead and cooperate with the new rulers in Dhaka to build on the solid foundation she constructed for the bilateral strategic partnership. Delhi must also signal empathy for the student movement that is seeking political liberalisation and wider economic opportunities. As it contributes to the immediate stabilisation of Bangladesh and its long-term rise, the US will remain an important partner for India.

Over the last few years, Delhi and Washington have moved closer to each other on South Asian issues. In the last few months, there has been an important effort to reduce bilateral differences on Bangladesh. Recall that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced Hasina to President Joe Biden at the G20 summit in Delhi and encouraged Washington to reduce the political pressure on Dhaka. Despite the many questions about the January elections in Bangladesh, the Biden Administration offered to cooperate with the new government led by Hasina. The problem in the end was not between Delhi and Washington. It was about Hasina rapidly losing touch with her people. Even a massive collaboration between the RAW and the CIA could not have stopped the political clock that was ticking for Hasina’s unpopular rule.

Finally, the conspiracy theories in play today are unlikely to undermine the deep structural convergence between Indian and US interests in the Subcontinent and its waters. The current crisis in Bangladesh and the gathering storm in Burma demand more intensive India-US consultation and cooperation in the Bay of Bengal and its littoral.

The writer is visiting professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore and contributing editor on international affairs for The Indian Express.

In his centenary year, making sense of Guru Dutt in the classroom

In films such as ‘Pyaasa’, the actor-director challenges our habit of thought while showing us how commerce dominates and displaces both art and the artist

Written by Sumana Roy

Updated: August 14, 2024 10:30 IST

Guru Dutt in Pyaasa. (Express archive)

Every semester, Guru Dutt visits my classroom. He comes in unexpectedly, like he does in the film Pyaasa (1957). My students haven’t heard of him. If he’d been alive, he’d have been 99, older than their grandparents. I had to turn to him for help with explaining Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, a text that is not commonly read in a Creative Writing classroom, but I had my reasons — I wanted them to understand the dialogic form through two very old texts, The Republic and the Bhagavad Gita.

Like Socrates said to Glaucon, I ask my students to let the classroom become a cave for a few minutes. “Imagine that the cavern has a mouth that opens to the light above, and a passage exists all the way down to the people. They have lived here from infancy, with their legs and necks bound in chains. They cannot move. All they can do is stare directly forward. Imagine that far above and behind them blazes a great fire.” What these “captives” in the cave see is nothing except shadows, which they take to be the only possible truth.

We continue reading Shawn Eyer’s translation in which Socrates says, “Imagine one of them is set free from his shackles… What do you think his reaction would be if someone informed him that everything he had formerly known was illusion and delusion, but that now he was a few steps closer to reality, oriented now towards things that were more authentic, and able to see more truly?… Would he, rather, believe that the shadows he formerly knew were more real than the objects now being shown to him?”

I play the song “Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai”, as if to illustrate Plato’s allegory. Guru Dutt’s name in the film is Vijay, meaning “victory”, used with characteristic melancholic irony, for he is a poet whose poems are ignored, and whose imagined death brings more commerce than his life. In the song, he stands with his arms outstretched, a silhouette that Dutt would repeat in “Jaane woh kaise log the jinke pyar ko pyar mila” in the same film, almost as if he were ploughing the light. The publisher, Ghosh, wealthy, powerful, controller of careers and destinies, is on the dais in the auditorium. Such is the architecture of conditioning that, like the people in Plato’s cave, the audience’s back is towards the poet and the source of light.

A still from Pyaasa (1957), starring Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman. (Express archive)

By interchanging the location of the two — of the poet behind the audience and the publisher on stage — Dutt challenges our habit of thought while showing us how commerce dominates and displaces both art and the artist. Vijay’s Urdu poems are rejected by publishers and his family; his girlfriend leaves him to marry Ghosh. Goaded by the prostitute who loves Vijay and his writing, Ghosh publishes Vijay’s poems, hoping that news of the poet’s death might push up sales. This is the duniya — on the dais — that Vijay wants to burn. What is being rejected? Mehlon, takhton, taajon, samaj, daulat — riches, fame and success. How does it matter if this world is won — yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai? Dutt subverts this in every way he can — notice how the “spotlight” is on the publisher, while the poet sings, standing in the darkness of the auditorium.

Whose history is this, and whose conditioning? It is as much the struggling poet Vijay’s history as it is the Indian nation’s, then only 10 years old, confused between materialism and the spiritual life necessary for art and calm. The nation and its new culture are unable to give him a home, a stage, where the moneyed publisher stands. Dutt’s is also an allegory of the cave — it is a rejection of an idea of poetry, of the stage. The poet has come in like the audience, a “common man”. He stuns them, his song anaesthetises them — not like Shakespeare’s Titania, but into contemplation, into reflection, into thought — as every poem must.

At such a moment, as Plato and Dutt corroborate each other, the Creative Writing classroom is liberated of the worship of “craft” and is able to move beyond the chatter of reviews, agents and publishers to the philosophical: How will a poet who says “Mere samne se hatao yeh duniya” write about the world, this duniya?

Roy, a poet and writer, is associate professor of creative writing, Ashoka University. Views are personal

UPSC-CSE Key

- The issue of structural unemployment and the Union Budget 2024

- UPSC Key | JPCs, DDoS attack, Employment Data and more

- UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : Environment, Geography, Sci-Tech MCQs on A23 iceberg, T Coronae Borealis, Nankai Trough and more (Week 71)

- UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 2 : Questions on Waqf property and Interstate River Water Dispute (Week 64)

- Independence Day: The lead-up to India’s independence and partition

- UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : History, Culture and Social Issues MCQs on AIML, Prarthana Samaj, Gender Gap Index Report 2024 (Week 71)

- UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on Geomagnetic storms and objectives and benefits of the Clean Plant Programme (Week 64)

The issue of structural unemployment and the Union Budget 2024

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate declined from 6 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.2 percent in 2022-23. But how does the government seek to tackle the issue of structural unemployment?

New Delhi | August 14, 2024 18:05 IST

The overall unemployment rate in 2022-23 is 3.2 percent whereas youth unemployment rate is 10 percent. (Representational image)

— Amol Agrawal

(The Indian Express has launched a new series of articles for UPSC aspirants written by seasoned writers and erudite scholars on issues and concepts spanning History, Polity, International Relations, Art, Culture and Heritage, Environment, Geography, Science and Technology, and so on. Read and reflect with subject experts and boost your chance of cracking the much-coveted UPSC CSE. In the following article, Dr. Amol Agrawal, an economist, analyses the issue of unemployment in India.)

Unemployment, especially youth unemployment, has emerged as a major concern for the Indian economy. Before discussing India’s unemployment scenario, we need to understand some concepts.

Measuring employment and unemployment

Economists divide the population into labour force and not in labour force. The labour force segment includes people in working age, say 15 years to 60 years (working age differs across countries). The non-labor force includes children and the retired/old-age population. Within the labour force, the population is divided into employed and unemployed. The employed are those who have work opportunities whereas unemployed are those who are willing to work but are unable to find any work opportunities.

Economists use two major economic indicators to understand labour markets. First is the labour force participation rate which is the ratio of the labour force to the adult population. Second is the unemployment rate which is the percentage of the labour force that is unemployed. While measuring labour trends of the entire population is desirable, it is highly time-consuming and costly. Hence, economists with the help of statisticians conduct surveys to estimate the trends in labour markets.

In India, the National Sample Survey Organisation used to conduct quinquennially (once in five years) surveys on employment and unemployment since 1972. These surveys gave us data on the state of employment and unemployment in India. However, these surveys had a large time lag and there was a need for a higher frequency survey and timely response by the government to address unemployment.

Youth unemployment: A major concern

Hence from 2017-18 onwards, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) started releasing quarterly and annual surveys on employment named Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). The PLFS has become the major source of measuring and understanding trends in India’s labour markets since.

The PLFS 2017-18 noted that “the unemployment rate among the youth was much higher compared to that in the overall population.” The unemployment rate was 6 per cent whereas the youth unemployment rate (age 15-29 years) was 18 per cent. As per the PLFS 2022-23, unemployment rate has declined but the difference between unemployment in total labour force and youth unemployment remains as high. The overall unemployment rate in 2022-23 is 3.2 percent whereas youth unemployment rate is 10 percent.

In terms of rural-urban, the rural youth unemployment rate is 8 per cent whereas the urban unemployment rate is nearly double at 15.7 percent. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an independent research organisation, publishes a separate unemployment data. As per CMIE, youth unemployment rate was 45.4 per cent in 2022-23.

The gender-wise unemployment rate shows male and female youth unemployment at 9.7 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. The labour force participation rate of females increased from 17 per cent in 2017-18 to 27.8 per cent in 2022-23. The labour force participation rate of males was 55.5 per cent in 2017-18 which increased marginally to 56.2 per cent in 2022-23. The lower representation of females in the labour force is also a major problem for the Indian economy.

Frictional and structural unemployment

Economic research distinguishes between two kinds of unemployment. First is frictional unemployment that results due to workers taking time to search for the jobs that best suit their tastes and skills. The second is structural unemployment where the supply of jobs is less than demand for jobs.

While frictional unemployment is inevitable as the economy is constantly changing creating new opportunities and destroying older ones. Hence economists are not too worried about frictional unemployment.

But structural unemployment is a major cause of concern for economists. Structural implies the economy is not generating enough jobs to absorb the growing workforce, which seems to be the case in India.

One way to see the presence of structural unemployment is to compare the share of different sectors in employment with the share of different sectors in economic activity or GDP (Table 1). We see that the share of agriculture in GDP is 15 per cent but the share of agriculture in employment is 46 per cent. In the other two sectors, viz. industry and services we see the opposite: the share of GDP is higher but the share of employment is lower.

On analysing trends in male-female classification, we see the usual problem of females getting employment mainly in lower growth agriculture sector. The majority of males are employed in the high growth services sector. It also partly explains why females get lower wages than males.

Table 1: Comparing share of different sectors in employment with share of different sectors in economic activity (in per cent)

Employment

Economic Activity (measured by GDP)

Male

Female

Person

Agriculture

37.1

64.3

45.8

15.3

Industry

12.7

11.4

12.2

21.4

Services

50.2

24.4

41.9

63.3

Source: PLFS 2022-23 and National Account Statistics, CSO

Addressing the issue of structural unemployment

The share of agriculture in economic activity has declined from 60 per cent in 1951 to 15 per cent today. But we do not see a similar decline in employment in agriculture. The sectors that are generating higher growth are not creating similar growth in employment, showing the structural unemployment problem in India.

Agriculture also suffers from disguised unemployment where more people are employed than required as opportunities are not available in other sectors. Lack of opportunities in the formal sector also pushes workers to seek employment in informal sectors. This further complicates and aggravates the employment problem as in the informal sector not only the wages are lower but also it does not offer any protection to workers.

Structural unemployment needs to be addressed on both demand and supply fronts. While there is a need to create a supply of more jobs in growth sectors, there is also a need to work on demand factors by improving education and skill-sets of labour enabling them to work in the higher growth sectors.

Structural unemployment and the budget

In the Union Budget 2024, the Finance Minister said the government will work on nine priorities for economic development. One of the nine priorities was ‘Employment & Skilling’. Under ‘employment and skilling’, the Finance Minister announced three schemes to address employment concerns:

The three schemes are aimed at incentivising both new employees and employers to create employment opportunities in the formal sector. There is an additional incentive to push employment in the manufacturing sector which is better suited to absorb surplus employment from the agriculture sector compared to the services sector which is much more skill-based.

Further, the Budget has proposed additional schemes to skill the workforce. A scheme launched to upgrade 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes that will skill 20 lakh youth over a 5-year period. The course content and design will be aligned as per the needs of the industry, preparing the youth to be industry-ready while studying. The government has also proposed that it will facilitate skill loans up to Rs 7.5 lakh enabling students to upgrade themselves.

The budget has also offered another interesting proposal which has attracted a lot of attention. Under this proposal, the government will tie-up with India’s top 500 companies to provide internships to youth. The internship will be for 12 months and will be gradually scaled to touch 1 crore youth in 5 years. The government will provide an internship allowance of Rs 5,000 per month along with a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000. The training cost will be borne by the companies from their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

The budget has also made measures to increase female LFPR. It will develop hostels for working women in collaboration with industry and also establish creches. The government will also seek to organise women-specific skilling programmes with the industry, and promote market access for women SHG (Self Help Groups) enterprises.

Wait for the implementation

India has been suffering from structural unemployment problems for a long time now. The governments have tried to come up with many schemes in the past to reduce unemployment but they have had limited success. The policymakers have also tried to promote and incentivise manufacturing but it has remained a distant dream.

The current government has introduced new policies but we have to wait and see how they are implemented. The proof of the pudding lies in its eating and the same is true for all government schemes including the recent ones on employment. One silver lining that has emerged after the Lok Sabha election is that unemployment has become a very important issue. The governments, both at the centre and in the states have no choice but to work towards addressing the ticking time-bomb.

Post Read Question

Analyse the unemployment scenario in India. How does the government seek to tackle it?

What is the unemployment rate? Why has the issue of structural unemployment been a major concern?

The overall unemployment rate in 2022-23 is 3.2 percent whereas youth unemployment rate is 10 percent. Evaluate the cause of high youth unemployment.

(Amol Agrawal is an Adjunct faculty in economics at Ahmedabad University and the author of History of Private Banking in South Canara District (1906-69).)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.

Share your thoughts and ideas on UPSC Special articles with ashiya.parveen@indianexpress.com.

UPSC Key | JPCs, DDoS attack, Employment Data and more

Exclusive for Subscribers Daily: How are Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and DDoS attack relevant to the UPSC Exam? What significance do topics like Contract Farming and Sub-classification of SCs and STs have for your preliminary and main exams? You can learn more by reading the Indian Express UPSC Key for August 14th, 2024.

Written by Khushboo Kumari

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 20:22 IST

The opposition has demanded a JPC to probe the Hindenburg allegations into Madhabi Puri Buch, Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Know more in our UPSC Key. (File photo)

🚨 Attention: UPSC Key is now all 7 Days a Week!🚨

Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for August 14, 2024. If you missed the August 13th, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here.

🚨 The Indian Express UPSC Essentials brings to you the July edition of its monthly magazine. Click Here to read. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨

Explained

Amid Hindenburg probe calls, look at JPCs on financial allegations

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II: Polity, Constitution

What’s the ongoing story-  The Opposition has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the Hindenburg Research allegations against Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. The BJP has rejected the demand.

Prerequisites:

— What is JPC?

— What is Hindenburg’s report against the SEBI chairman?

— What is the Action Taken Report?

— What are Parliamentary Committeees?

Key takeaways:

— A JPC is an ad hoc body comprising members from both Houses of Parliament, roughly in proportion to party strengths in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The representation of Lok Sabha is double that of Rajya Sabha.

— A JPC, therefore, acts as a mini Parliament to carry out detailed scrutiny of a specific matter within a specific time frame.

— Joint committees are set up by a motion passed in one House and agreed to by the other. The details of membership and subjects relating to a particular JPC are decided by Parliament.

— A JPC can look into documents and examine officials of any ministry or institution concerned. If one or more members disagree with the majority in a JPC, they can submit notes of dissent.

— It is up to the government to take action on the recommendations of the committee. If it so wishes, the government may launch investigations on the basis of a JPC report. But it must, in any case, report on the follow-up action taken on the committee’s recommendations.

— Based on the government’s reply, the committee submits an ‘Action Taken Report’ in Parliament. The Action Taken Report can be discussed in Parliament, and the Opposition can ask questions of the government.

— So far, only three JPCs have been constituted to investigate alleged financial crimes — on the 2G spectrum scam in 2013, on the Ketan Parekh share market scam in 2001, and on the securities and banking deals relating to Harshad Mehta in 1992.

For Your Information:

— Legislative business begins when a Bill is introduced in either House of Parliament. But the process of lawmaking is often complex, and Parliament has limited time for detailed discussions. — Also, the political polarisation and shrinking middle ground has been leading to increasingly rancorous and inconclusive debates in Parliament — as a result of which a great deal of legislative business ends up taking place in the Parliamentary Committees instead.

— A Parliamentary Committee is a panel of MPs that is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker, and which works under the direction of the Speaker. It presents its report to the House or to the Speaker.

— Parliamentary Committees have their origins in the British Parliament. They draw their authority from Article 105, which deals with the privileges of MPs, and Article 118, which gives Parliament authority to make rules to regulate its procedure and conduct of business.

— Broadly, Parliamentary Committees can be classified into Financial Committees, Departmentally Related Standing Committees, Other Parliamentary Standing Committees, and Ad hoc Committees.

Points to Ponder:

— What is the purpose of the Parliamentary Committee?

— How is JPC  different from the Standing Committee?

— What are the challenges of Parliamentary Committees?

— What is the significance of the Parliamentary Committees?

Post Read Question:

(1) Consider the following statements The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (UPSC CSE 2013)

1. consists of not more than 25 Members of the Ink Sabha

2. scrutinises appropriation and finance accounts of the Government

3. examines the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Parliament Committees, their leaders, and their role in law-making

Rearing broiler chickens

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy

What’s the ongoing story- The broiler integration companies have turned poultry farming – traditionally based on rearing 10-20 free-range/backyard breed birds fed on agricultural byproducts and kitchen waste – into a commercial enterprise even for smallholders.

Prerequisites:

— What is contract farming?

— What is the broiler industry?

Key takeaways:

— The integrated contract farming model was pioneered by the Coimbatore-based Suguna Foods. Out of the estimated 14 crore DOCs placed every week in broiler farms all over India, IB Group/ABIS and Suguna account for 1-1.1 crore each. Other major broiler integrators are the Venkateshwara Hatcheries (VH) Group, Baramati Agro and Premium Chick Feeds (all in Pune) and Shalimar Group (Kolkata). Each does 30-60 lakh of weekly chick placements.

— The broiler industry is arguably India’s most organised and vertically integrated agri-business today. Dairies may procure milk directly from farmers, but don’t supply them cows or buffaloes. The poultry integrators have their own feed plants as well as commercial broiler hatcheries.

— The broiler chickens produced and sold in India are largely of foreign pedigree stock like Ross, Hubbard and Cobb…. Only Suguna Foods has developed its own ‘Sunbro’ pure line broiler breed.

— The Indian broiler industry is highly “backward integrated” – more than dairy – but isn’t as “forward integrated” as the latter. Dairies sell branded pouch milk, curd, ghee, butter, cheese and ice-cream, whereas broiler chickens are predominantly wholesaled and even retailed as live birds in the “wet market” or roadside shops.

Points to Ponder:

— What are the challenges of contract farming?

— What are the government initiatives for promoting contract farming?

— What were the three farm laws, now repealed, related to contract farming?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(2) Consider the following statements: ( UPSC CSE 2023)

1. The Government of India provides Minimum Support Price for niger (Guizotia abyssinica) seeds.

2. Niger is cultivated as a Kharif crop.

3. Some tribal people in India use niger seed oil for cooking.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Mains

What do you mean by Minimum Support Price (MSP)? How will MSP rescue the farmers from the low income trap? (UPSC CSE 2018)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

For this agri-allied farmer, desi murgi came before eggs, and then came the big bucks

What is DDoS attack, cause of Trump-Musk interview glitches?

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-III: Cyber Security

What’s the ongoing story- Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk hosted former US President and Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump on his social media platform X on Monday (August 12) for a live audio interview. However, their conversation started after a 40-minute delay and witnessed several glitches, due to what appeared to be a “massive DDoS attack on X”, Musk said in a post.

Prerequisites:

— What is a cyber attack?

— What are bots?

Key takeaways:

— A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack simply means that a website or any other online service cannot be accessed because it has been the target of attacks from a malicious actor.  According to the US government’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, this targeting is done by directing a large number of users against a particular online server at the same time to “flood” it.

— Bots can also be used to overwhelm the network, resulting in slow loading times or a total pause in internet services.

— In the case of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, multiple sources work against one target. This makes the culprit harder to locate.

— There are different ways of carrying out DOS attacks. Botnets, which are networks of compromised devices, can be deployed by potential attackers.

— In a “Smurf Attack”, the attacker sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) broadcast packets to several hosts. The ICMP can be normally used to communicate data transmission errors to systems, but in this case, attackers send it maliciously.

— While communicating, attackers use a spoofed source IP address which actually belongs to the target machine. As the target machines respond, they end up flooding their own servers, resulting in a DDoS attack.

— Then there is an “SYN flood”, which occurs when an attacker sends a request to connect to the target server but does not complete the connection… Multiple, targeted incomplete connections again result in a load for the server, making it difficult to complete legitimate connections smoothly.

— Slowing internet speed and inability to access an online service are signs of a DoS attack…

— DoS attacks can cause major disruption, lasting for anywhere between a few hours to a few days. In 2016, major websites like Spotify, Twitter and Amazon were unavailable for many hours because of a DDoS attack.

For Your Information:

— All internet connected smart devices will be required to meet minimum security standards under what the UK government has dubbed as “world first” laws to protect consumers and businesses from hacking and cyber-attacks.

— Under the new regime, manufacturers will be banned from having weak, easily guessable default passwords like “admin” or “12345” and if there is a common password, the user will be prompted to change it on start-up.

Points to Ponder:

— What are the challenges of cyber security in India?

— How vulnerable is India to cyber-attacks?

— What are the government initiatives regarding cyber security?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(3) In India, it is legally mandatory for which of the following to report on cyber security incidents? (UPSC CSE 2017)

1. Service providers

2. Data centres

3. Body corporate

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Mains

What are the different elements of cyber security ? Keeping in view the challenges in cyber security, examine the extent to which India has successfully developed a comprehensive National Cyber Security Strategy. (UPSC CSE 2022)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

UK’s new ‘world first’ laws crack down on smart gadget cyber attacks

Editorial

The post-Mandal moment

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international significance

Mains Examination: GS-II: Constitution, Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story- Suhas Palshikar writes: The recent ruling of the Supreme Court allowing states to sub-classify SCs and STs for the purpose of preferential treatment in reservation has produced two pronounced responses: Political parties are trying to duck the issue by not committing themselves while most proponents of the reservation policy are upset about and critical of the ruling. Both the silence and the criticism represent the unease with the post-Mandal moment.

Prerequisites:

— What are the constitutional provisions for the protection of SC and ST?

— What was the purpose of the Mandal Commission?

Key takeaways:

— Mandal — understood as caste politics — has had two connected but separate trajectories: One pre-Mandal and the other occasioned by the Mandal Commission Report.

— The former is a historically anchored life of democratisation, involving long-term struggles against caste… This pre-Mandal life of the idea of Mandal was made possible by BR Ambedkar.

— The other life of Mandal revolved around the question of reservation — this was one that shaped post-1967 politics in the north. This second life of Mandal culminated in a complicated mix.

— In the pre-life of Mandal, questions of government policy were intrinsically based on the larger goal of “anti-caste” politics – that is, on the goal of doing away with caste-based injustice and unfairness. This was the most valuable contribution of Ambedkar to the discourse of social justice and democracy.

— Mandal as an idea represented three sets of contradictory and yet complementary elements. One, it set off a critical examination of our public sphere in terms of mirror representation and also gave rise to the substantive question of a fair share in power.

— Two, the Mandal moment emphasised the need to fortify the reservation regime — by moving beyond SCs and STs, by addressing questions of reservation in promotion and by rejecting the reservation/merit binary.

— Three, in the realm of mobilisation, the Mandal moment strengthened the politics of building social blocs. This could enrich democracy and also enable the backward communities to engage in politics beyond localised vote banks.

— Much of the disappointment with the SC ruling emanates from a comfortable security in continuing to recognise caste blocs that made sense half a century ago. It is believed that various legal fortifications and expansions to the existing reservation regime are adequate state responses to pacify the Mandal energy without having to destabilise the social equilibrium of power.

— By opening up the possibility of regrouping of caste blocs and by asking (perhaps as obiter dicta, and even juridically unnecessarily) uncomfortable questions about who benefits from reservation and by employing the clumsy concept of creamy layer, the ruling has thrown up crucial questions.

— Whether the Court had ruled this way or not, the post-Mandal moment was already here and needed a response from academia, policymakers and social activists to three issues. First, if the reservation policy represented an urgent need to intervene in caste-related asymmetry… Two, as Indian society moves away from an easily comprehensible overlap of caste, class and power, how do we address the new labyrinths of power asymmetry?… Three, do we expect the SC, ST and OBC to be seen as permanent blocs?

— The responses are bound to be tentative, pragmatic and even crude. But responses will surely be needed. Consider the existing challenges. Among many castes from SCs and tribes from STs, there is a long-standing and deep concern over their condition.

— This results in distrust and competition within the SC/ST population. Most states have already grouped OBCs into sub-categories in order to allay the fears of “more backward”. A number of politically strong agrarian castes are waging struggles for reservation in response to their deteriorating condition in the material sphere.

For Your Information:

— In a 6:1 ruling, the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud permitted states to create sub-classifications within the SC and ST categories for the purpose of according wider protections — through fixed sub-quotas — to the most backward communities within these categories. This overturns the apex court’s 2004 decision in E V Chinnaiah v State of Andhra Pradesh, in which it had held that the SC/ST list is a “homogenous group” that cannot be divided further.

Points to Ponder:

— What are the arguments for and against the sub-classification of SC, and ST?

— What is the debate about the ‘creamy layer’ in SC, and ST reservations?

— What is the socio-economic status of SC and ST in India?

— Why reservations for SC and ST were introduced?

Post Read Question:

What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs). (UPSC CSE 2017)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Explained: Supreme Court’s verdict on sub-classification of SCs and STs

The Ideas Page

A Cavet in the Jobs data

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economy

Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy

What’s the ongoing story-  Amitabh Kundu and P C Mohanan write: Studies based on the KLEMS data are being widely quoted to counter claims of poor job creation in the country… Hence, it is necessary that we examine the methodology of generating the data, going into sectoral details and original sources.

Prerequisites:

— How is unemployment calculated in India?

— What is the worker-population ratio (WPR)?

Key takeaways:

— The KLEMS database consisting of data on capital (K), labour (L), energy (E), material (M) and services (S), currently available for the period 1980 to 2024, is meant to provide a “measurement tool to monitor and evaluate productivity growth at the industry level as well as the aggregate economy”.

— As per the methodology, the EUS and PLFS data are used to determine the sectoral distribution of workers by the usual principal and subsidiary status (UPSS) for four groups — rural male, rural female, urban male and urban female.

— Since the surveys do not provide the absolute number of workers, the estimated worker-population ratios (WPR) for the four groups from the survey are multiplied by the total population.

— The forgoing explanation clearly shows that the RBI does not produce any employment figures independently. The UPSS-based WPR is used on a projected population to obtain the numbers.

— There is a significant drop in WPR, as per UPSS, from 2011-12 to 2017-18, as we shift from EUS to PLFS and the KLEMS assumes there is no problem of temporal comparability. The WPR, however, has gone up significantly for rural women with some increases also for the other population segments, in the subsequent years.

— These WPR values applied on somewhat higher population estimates, as discussed above, would produce inflated employment numbers.

— Employment in enterprise surveys indicates a position in the enterprises. It is not easily relatable to information on individuals, collected in household employment surveys, that are considered superior for employment data.

— Independent estimates from these two sources do not match for reasons well known. Similarly, data on the registration of MSME units in the Udyam portal usually does not imply new job creation, nor do the monthly changes in EPFO subscription mean additional employment generation.

— Considering the methodological limitations of these data, it is surprising that claims should be made of a rapid growth of employment, that too of decent jobs.

For Your Information:

— Data from the periodic labour force surveys has shown that there has been a steady increase in the labour force participation rate in the country. For those aged 15 years and above, the participation rate has increased from 49.8 per cent in 2017-18 to 57.9 per cent in 2022-23.

— Much of this increase has been due to more women entering the labour force — the female labour force participation rate has risen from 23.3 per cent to 37 per cent over this period.

— However, as the India Employment Report 2024 prepared by the International Labour Organisation and the Institute of Human Development points out, post 2019, roughly two-thirds of the increase in employment comprised of self-employed workers, “among whom unpaid (women) family workers predominate”.

— The report also notes that in recent years employment in agriculture has gone up, while the share of employment in manufacturing has remained almost stagnant. These are worrying signs that call for a closer examination.

Points to Ponder:

— What are the different types of unemployment?

— What are the major issues related to unemployment in India?

— What are the initiatives taken by the government with regard to unemployment?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(4) Disguised unemployment generally means (UPSC CSE 2013)

(a) large number of people remain unemployed

(b) alternative employment is not available

(c) marginal productivity of labour is zero

(d) productivity of workers is low

Mains

Most of the unemployment in India is structural in nature. Examine the methodology adopted to compute unemployment in the country and suggest improvements. (UPSC CSE 2023)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Express View on employment data: Jobs, still

Return of the foreign hand

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II: International Relations

What’s the ongoing story-   C. Raja Mohan writes: One had thought that a “rising India” is now self-confident and secure in its own skin; and that it had overcome the impulse to blame the “foreign hand” for any unwelcome or unanticipated development. But the shock of “losing an ally” in Dhaka seems to have triggered a Delhi derangement.

Prerequisites:

— Read about the current political turmoil in Bangladesh

— How the India and Bangladesh relationship has evolved?

— Map work: Location of Bangladesh and Indian states sharing boundaries with Bangladesh.

Key takeaways:

— Conspiracy theories pander to political prejudices and discourage common sense. They avoid reckoning with the causes of a political catastrophe staring in your face. You don’t have to be a geopolitical genius to recognise that Sheikh Hasina was increasingly unpopular.

— Hasina appears convinced that the US overthrew her because she refused to give America a military base. She is not the only South Asian leader who is blaming the US for losing power.

— Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, has been at it since he was defenestrated in a successful no-confidence vote in the National Assembly in April 2022. Like Hasina, Imran Khan also thinks his refusal to give a base (“absolutely not” were his famous words) was what turned America against him.

— To be sure, the US military is looking for bases and facilities as it responds to the Chinese military challenge in Asia. But to suggest that the US so desperately needs bases in Bangladesh and Pakistan that it is organising coups would be outlandish.

— Hasina’s story is about both triumph and tragedy. She survived against great odds, and saved the legacy of the nation’s liberation from Pakistan. Over the last 15 years, Hasina turned Bangladesh into a fast-growing economy and a “model” for other developing countries, including Pakistan to follow… Like all tragic heroes, she had fatal flaws — the relentless determination to concentrate power in her hands and an inability to heal the deep political divisions in the country over its identity and history.

— India has every reason to regret Hasina’s fall from power, but Delhi can’t be detained by what happened in the last few days. It must look ahead and cooperate with the new rulers in Dhaka to build on the solid foundation she constructed for the bilateral strategic partnership.

For Your Information:

— If Hasina’s 15-year old rule was tainted by the arrests of Opposition leaders, suppression of dissent and crackdowns on free speech, the protests against her regime fueled concerns of a return to political instability and reopening of past scars — many of them leftovers of Bangladesh’s liberation movement, some going even further back to the Partition of the Subcontinent.

— Events in the week since he has taken over as the head of the interim government, have underlined that applying the healing touch and holding social peace should be Yunus’s first priority.

Points to Ponder:

— What is the significance of Bangladesh for India?

— What are the challenges of the India and Bangladesh relationship?

— Impact of ongoing crisis in Bangladesh on India’s internal security

Post Read Question:

(5). With reference to river Teesta, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2017)

1. The source of river Teesta is the same as that of Brahmaputra but it flows through Sikkim.

2. River Rangeet originates in Sikkim and it is a tributary of river Teesta.

3. River Teesta flows into the Bay of Bengal on the border of India and Bangladesh.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Mains

Analyze internal security threats and transborder crimes along Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan borders including Line of Control (LoC). Also discuss the role played by various security forces in this regard. (UPSC CSE 2018)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Express View on Muhammad Yunus government: Keep the social peace

Express Network

Rainfall that caused Wayanad landslides influenced by climate change, shows study

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-I, III: Geography, Environment

What’s the ongoing story- The rainfall that triggered the recent landslides in Wayanad, killing more than 200 people, were made 10 per cent heavier by human-induced climate change, a new study has found. The study by World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international group of researchers, found that the excessive rainfall in the early hours of July 30 that triggered the landslides was “once in a 50-year event”.

Prerequisites:

— What is a landslide?

— What are the causes of landslides?

— What are ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs)?

Key takeaways:

— Wayanad received 140 mm rainfall in a day on July 30, which the study said was the third heaviest single-day rainfall event on record for the district.

— “Overall, the available climate models indicate a 10 per cent increase in intensity. Under a future warming scenario where the global temperature is two degree Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, climate models predict even heavier 1-day rainfall events, with a further expected increase of about 4 per cent in rainfall intensity,” the study said.

— It said this would further increase the risk of landslides in the region. “The increase in climate change-driven rainfall found in this study is likely to increase the potential number of landslides that could be triggered in the future, raising the need for adaptation actions that may include the reinforcement of susceptible slopes, landslide early warning systems, and construction of retaining structures to protect vulnerable localities,” it said.

— The study also found that factors such as quarrying for building materials, and a 62 per cent reduction in forest cover in Wayanad between 1950 and 2018, may have contributed to increased susceptibility of the slopes to landslides during heavy rainfall.

— “More stringent assessments of landslides, restricting construction in hillside areas and minimising deforestation and quarrying are needed to avoid similar disasters in the future,” it said.

For Your Information:

— The K Kasturirangan-led high-level working group (HLWG) and a three-member expert committee formed by the Kerala government in 2013 had both recommended that this particular area be included in the larger eco-sensitive zone being demarcated in the state, but the recommendations have not yet been put into effect.

— The HLWG, which was formed to demarcate ecologically sensitive areas (ESA) in the entire Western Ghats region, had included 13 villages in the Wayanad district of Kerala in its recommendations.

— The ESAs are areas in which human activities, including construction and industries, are sought to be regulated because of the fragile ecology and special provisions are invoked to protect the environment.

— The first draft notification on Western Ghats that had demarcated over 57,000 sq km across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Goa in 2013 is yet to be notified as consensus has been elusive.

Points to Ponder:

— What is the impact of climate change on landslides?

— What are the mitigation measures against landslides?

— What are the landslide-prone areas in India?

Post Read Question:

Differentiate the causes of landslides in the Himalayan region and Western Ghats. (UPSC CSE 2021)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Wayanad landslides: 2 panels put site in eco-sensitive zone 10 yrs ago, no notification

Prelims Answer Key

1. (c)  2. (c)  3. (d)  4. (c)  5. (b)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagramand X.

UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : Environment, Geography, Sci-Tech MCQs on A23 iceberg, T Coronae Borealis, Nankai Trough and more (Week 71)

Are you preparing for UPSC CSE Prelims 2025? Check your progress and revise your topics through this quiz on Environment, Geography, Science and Technology.

Written by Nitendra Pal Singh

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 14:58 IST

A photo provided by Chris Walton, British Antarctic Survey, shows the world’s largest iceberg, named A23a, near Antarctica in April 2024. It’s unclear how long A23a will spin in place. Find a question on the A23 iceberg in today’s quiz. (Chris Walton, British Antarctic Survey via The New York Times)

UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative of subject-wise quizzes. These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus. Attempt today’s subject quiz on Environment, Geography, Science and Technology to check your progress. Come back tomorrow to solve the Economy Quiz.

🚨 The Indian Express UPSC Essentials brings to you the July edition of its monthly magazine. Click Here to read. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨

QUESTION 1

Consider the following statements:

Statement 1: The A23 iceberg is located near the South Orkney Islands, northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Statement 2: Large Antarctic icebergs are designated by A, B, C and D depending on where in Antarctica they originate

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

(a) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are correct and Statement 2 is the correct explanation for Statement 1.

(b) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are correct and Statement 2 is not the correct explanation for Statement 1.

(c) Statement 1 is correct but Statement 2 is incorrect.

(d) Statement 1 is incorrect but Statement 2 is correct.

Explanation

— A23 iceberg is spinning near the South Orkney Islands, approximately 375 miles northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula, “maintaining a chill 15 degree rotation per day,” according to the British Antarctic Survey, the UK’s polar research institute, on social media. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— A23, which was significantly larger than A23a, was one of three icebergs that calved off the Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986.

— Large Antarctic icebergs are identified as A, B, C, or D depending on where they originate, and they are assigned a number only when they reach a certain size. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— The iceberg sits in Iceberg Alley, a prominent iceberg-spotting area in the Southern Ocean. Large icebergs typically move swiftly and are pulled by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the world’s greatest ocean current. The ice blocks are finally fired eastward into warmer waters, where they melt and dissolve. Brearley characterised the changeover as “a warm bath of water” with temperatures barely a few degrees above freezing.

Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are correct and Statement 2 is not the correct explanation for Statement 1.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 2

With reference to the Polaris Dawn Mission, consider the following statements:

1. The mission will feature the first-ever private spacewalk.

2. Polaris Dawn will dock with the International Space Station (ISS).

3. The mission aims to conduct scientific experiments and test Starlink’s laser-based communications.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Explanation

— SpaceX plans to launch the breakthrough Polaris Dawn mission on August 26, marking a key milestone in private spaceflight.

— The mission is slated to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket.

— The mission will include the first private spacewalk and attempts to achieve the highest Earth orbit since the Apollo era. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— Polaris Dawn will not dock with the International Space Station (ISS) but will operate as a free-flying mission in Earth orbit. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— The Polaris Dawn team is made up of four members: millionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who will lead the project; pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel; and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both SpaceX engineers.

Mission Objectives

(i) The first-ever private spacewalk.

(ii) Reaching an altitude of approximately 700 kilometers, the highest for a crewed mission since the Apollo era.

(iii) Testing SpaceX’s newly designed extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits in space.

(iv) Conducting scientific experiments and testing Starlink’s laser-based communications. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

— The crew will ascend to an altitude of almost 700 kilometres, making this the farthest crewed mission from Earth since the Apollo program.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 3

With reference to the landslides in India, consider the following statements:

1. In the Himalayan states, Uttarakhand has the largest landslide-prone land area.

2. Outside the Himalayan states, Karnataka is the most vulnerable state.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation

— Landslides have occurred all over the world this year, from Yunnan in China in January to Papua New Guinea in May, which killed over 2,000 people, to Sulawesi Island in Indonesia and Wayanad in Kerala in July.

— Landslides are natural occurrences that typically occur in hilly areas with steep slopes. During a landslip, vast volumes of rock, boulders, loose mud, dirt, and debris tumble down slopes and hillsides, gaining pace and frequently carrying vegetation or buildings with them.

— According to a team from IIT-Madras that has studied the phenomena, India contributes to around 8% of global landslide fatalities, with 847 dead and thousands displaced between 2001 and 21.

— According to a report published in IIT-M’s Shaastra magazine, the ILSM indicates that 13.17% of the country is prone to landslides, which is higher than previously thought. Furthermore, 4.75% of the area is deemed “very highly susceptible”.

— “Sikkim has the largest land area (57.6%) prone to landslides, whereas Kerala is the most vulnerable state outside of the Himalayas, with more than 14% of its land mass classified as “extremely high vulnerability.” Hence, statements 1 and 2 are not correct.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 4

T Coronae Borealis was recently in the news. It is a:

(a) Binary Star System

(b) Brown Dwarf

(c) Centaurs

(d) Elliptical Galaxy

Explanation

— The world is about to see a rare nova explosion, a tremendous increase in the brightness of a star triggered by a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a dwarf star.

— T Coronae Borealis, often known as the Blaze Star or T CrB, is a binary system in the Northern Crown. This system contains the remains of a dead star the size of Earth, with a mass comparable to the Sun. The T CrB is simply a white dwarf and a red giant planet orbiting each other.

— According to NASA, the T Coronae Borealis lives in the constellation Coronae Borealis. Because of its periodic explosive nature, scientists on Earth have been attentively monitoring this star system for many years. It has been classed as a recurrent nova due to its repeated outbursts.

— It is a binary system, which means the T CrB is made up of two stars: a red giant and a white dwarf. Both of these stars orbit each other, creating ideal conditions for periodic nova outbursts. The T CrB has a thermonuclear detonation on its surface roughly every 80 years. It was last observed from Earth in 1946.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 5

The Nankai Trough is an underwater subduction zone where:

(a) African Plate collides with the Philippine Sea Plate

(b) South American Plate collides with the African Plate

(c) Eurasian Plate collides with the Philippine Sea Plate

(d) Eurasian Plate collides with the Scotia Plate

Explanation

— After a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook southern Japan, the country’s meteorological agency issued its first-ever “megaquake advisory”.

— The Nankai Trough, a subduction zone (where tectonic plates meet and the heavier one slips under another) along Japan’s southwest Pacific coast, is expected to experience worse shaking and larger tsunamis than usual, according to the warning.

— The Nankai Trough is a nearly 900-kilometer-long undersea subduction zone formed when the Eurasian Plate collides with the Philippine Sea Plate, driving the latter under the former and into the Earth’s mantle.

— This accumulates tectonic stress, which can result in a megaquake — an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 8.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 71)

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 71)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 70)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 70)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 70)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.

UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 2 : Questions on Waqf property and Interstate River Water Dispute (Week 64)

Are you preparing for UPSC CSE 2024 or CSE 2025? Here are questions from GS paper 2 for this week with essential points as the fodder for your answers. Do not miss points to ponder and answer in the comment box below. Try them out.

Written by Nitendra Pal Singh

New Delhi | August 14, 2024 12:40 IST

Supreme Court had also directed Tamil Nadu to approach the supervisory committee within three days for the release of Cauvery water. Attempt a question on the constitutional provision for adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers or river valleys in today’s answer writing practice. (File Photo)

UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-2 to check your progress.

🚨 The Indian Express UPSC Essentials brings to you the July edition of its monthly magazine. Click Here to read. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨

QUESTION 1

What is a Waqf property and how is it governed? Discuss the recent changes proposed to the Waqf Act.

QUESTION 2

Discuss the constitutional provision for adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers or river valleys. Why plans for a new irrigation canal have raised concerns in Punjab?

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

QUESTION 1: What is a Waqf property and how is it governed? Discuss the recent changes proposed to the Waqf Act.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— A Waqf is a personal property donated by Muslims for a specific purpose, whether religious, philanthropic, or private. While the beneficiaries of the property may differ, ownership of the property is assumed to be with God.

— A Waqf can be established through a deed, instrument, or orally, and a property can be considered Waqf if it has been used for religious or charity reasons for an extended period of time.

— Once a property is declared Waqf, its character changes permanently and cannot be altered.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

How is a Waqf governed?

— Waqf properties in India are controlled by the Waqf Act of 1995. However, India has had a legal framework for managing Waqfs since 1913, when the Muslim Waqf Validating Act went into effect.

— Following independence, the Central Waqf Act of 1954 was passed, which was eventually replaced by the Waqf Act of 1995.

— The law was changed in 2013 to make encroaching on Waqf property punishable by up to two years in prison, as well as explicitly prohibiting the sale, gift, exchange, mortgage, or transfer of Waqf property.

— The Waqf law calls for the appointment of a survey commissioner to keep track of all Waqf properties by conducting local investigations, summoning witnesses, and requisitioning public records.

— A mutawalli (caretaker) manages and supervises Waqf properties. Waqf properties are managed in the same way that trust properties are managed under the Indian Trusts Act of 1882.

Recent changes proposed

— The Bill seeks to change the name of the parent Act from the Waqf Act, 1995, to the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995.

— It seeks to introduce three new provisions in the Act:

(i) Section 3A, which states that no person shall create a Waqf unless he is the lawful owner of the property and competent to transfer or dedicate such property. This provision appears to address the assumption that land that does not belong to an individual is not given as Waqf.

(ii) Section 3C(1), which states that “government property identified or declared as Waqf property, before or after the commencement of this Act, shall not be deemed to be a Waqf property”.

(iii) Section 3C(2), which empowers the government to decide if a property given as Waqf is government land. “If any question arises as to whether any such property is a Government property, the same shall be referred to the Collector having jurisdiction who shall make such inquiry as he deems fit, and determine whether such property is a Government property or not and submit his report to the State Government.”

— The proposed Bill would also give the central government the power to “direct the audit of any Waqf at any time by an auditor appointed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, or by any officer designated by the Central Government for that purpose”.

— The Bill also redefines how a property is deemed to be in the possession of Waqf. as it seeks to remove the concept of “Waqf by use”.

Conclusion:

— The Bill proposes to change the composition of Waqf Boards in states. It proposes to allow even a non-Muslim CEO, and gives the power to the state government to have at least two non-Muslim members to the state Waqf Boards.

— A Waqf Board is headed by a chairperson, and has one or two nominees from the state government. The board has powers under the law to administer the property and take measures for the recovery of lost properties of any Waqf, and to sanction any transfer of immovable property of a Waqf by way of sale, gift, mortgage, exchange, or lease.

(Source: Explained: The proposed changes to Waqf law by Asad Rehman)

Points to Ponder

What is a waqf board?

What are the functions of a waqf board?

Related Previous Year Questions

Discuss the contribution of civil society groups for women’s effective and meaningful participation and representation in state legislatures in India. (2023)

“Though women in post-Independent India have excelled in various fields, the social attitude towards women and feminist movement has been patriarchal.” Apart from women education and women empowerment schemes, what interventions can help change this milieu? (2021)

QUESTION 2: Discuss the constitutional provision for adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers or river valleys. Why plans for a new irrigation canal have raised concerns in Punjab?

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— Article 262 of the Constitution of India provides for the adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-state rivers or river valleys.

— Parliament may, by law, provide for the resolution of any dispute or complaint relating to the usage, distribution, or control of the waters of or in any interstate river or valley.

— Parliament may by law declare that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall have jurisdiction over any such dispute or complaint.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

— The Punjab government is facing a significant financial crisis, and several experts have questioned the technical feasibility of the proposed 149.53-kilometre Malwa canal.

— The projected 50-foot-wide, 12-foot-deep canal will begin at the Harike Headworks on the Sutlej River in Ferozepur district and convey 2,000 cusecs of water.

— The Malwa Canal aims to give additional water to the left side of the Rajasthan Feeder canal, which the Sirhind Feeder cannot adequately supply, particularly during the peak kharif paddy sowing season.

— The biggest challenge for the state, which is already saddled with a debt burden of Rs 3.5 lakh crore, is raising funds for the Rs 2,300 crore project. The state is considering obtaining funds from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

Proposed Malwa canal.

— The standard procedure for conducting a socioeconomic survey to determine the need for land acquisition and estimate the extent of human displacement, rehabilitation, and compensation will have to be followed.

— Environmental clearance, authority to remove trees, and approval from the Central Water Commission will be required.

Conclusion:

— Under the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Act, 2019, the central government will set up an Inter-State River Water Disputes Tribunal which will consist of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, three judicial members, and three expert members.

(Source: In water-starved Punjab, why plans for a new irrigation canal have raised concerns by Kanchan Vasdev, Constitution of India)

Points to Ponder

Vansadhara River Water Dispute Tribunal

Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal

Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal

Related Previous Year Question

Constitutional mechanisms to resolve the inter-state water disputes have failed to address and solve the problems. Is the failure due to structural or process inadequacy or both? Discuss. (2013)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 63)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 62)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 62)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 63)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 63)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 64)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.

Independence Day: The lead-up to India’s independence and partition

In 1946, the British government sent the Cabinet Mission to India to negotiate the terms of Independence. But how did the Mission’s failure to reconcile the contradictory demands of the Congress and the Muslim League make the partition inevitable?

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 12:37 IST

On September 2 in 1946, the interim government of India led by Jawaharlal Nehru was formed. (Source: File)

— Rahul Ranjan

(The Indian Express has launched a new series of articles for UPSC aspirants written by seasoned writers and erudite scholars on issues and concepts spanning History, Polity, International Relations, Art, Culture and Heritage, Environment, Geography, Science and Technology, and so on. Read and reflect with subject experts and boost your chance of cracking the much-coveted UPSC CSE. In the following article, Rahul Ranjan revisits India’s independence and partition.)

During World War II, India was pivotal to British defence strategies in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The British government sought to harness India’s resources for the war effort while maintaining tight control over Indian affairs. Winston Churchill, who became the Prime Minister of Britain in 1940, was a staunch imperialist, reluctant to grant any real concessions to Indian demands for self-governance. However, within his War Cabinet, there was a division, with Sir Stafford Cripps representing the Labour Party’s more progressive stance, which favoured India’s independence.

In 1942, the Cripps Mission was sent to India, offering post-war self-determination (dominion status), but with conditions that included the possibility of provinces seceding from a future Indian union — implicitly recognising the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan. Congress rejected the offer, leading to a total breakdown in relations between the British and Indian leaders. As the war progressed, British prestige was further undermined by Japan’s advances in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, international pressure, particularly from the United States, pushed Britain towards decolonisation. By the end of the war, Britain was economically weakened and faced mounting political pressure, leading to a shift in its policies. The Labour government, which came to power in 1945, was more inclined towards Indian independence, although still cautious about relinquishing full control.

This period marked the beginning of Britain’s retreat from India, culminating in the 1947 partition plan, which divided India into two independent nations—India and Pakistan. The partition was a direct consequence of the complex interplay between wartime exigencies, international pressure, and growing Indian demands for self-rule.

The Hindu-Muslim divide and the demand for Pakistan

The process of partition in India was fundamentally driven by the deepening Hindu-Muslim divide, which became apparent during various negotiations leading up to the transfer of power. The Lahore Resolution, adopted by the All-India Muslim League in March 1940, marked a significant turning point, seeking to elevate the status of the Indian Muslims from a minority group to a separate nation. It positioned Muhammad Ali Jinnah as the “Sole Spokesman” for Muslims, and the Muslim League’s demands became non-negotiable.

Jinnah’s rejection of the Cripps proposal exemplified his insistence on Muslim self-determination and equality with Hindus, rather than mere provincial autonomy.

As the Congress launched the Quit India Movement, the British found allies in Jinnah and the Muslim League.

Winston Churchill used the Hindu-Muslim tensions as a pretext to maintain British rule in India. During this period, the British actively supported Muslim League ministries in various provinces, further deepening the divide. Despite these developments, the demand for Pakistan remained ambiguous, focusing more on autonomy within a federal structure rather than outright separation.

Political negotiations and failures

Throughout the 1940s, Congress made several attempts to address Muslim demands through high-level negotiations. One notable attempt was the Rajaji Formula proposed by C. Rajagopalachari in 1944. The formula suggested a post-war commission to demarcate Muslim-majority districts, where a plebiscite based on adult suffrage for everyone, including non-Muslims, would decide whether they would prefer to join Pakistan.

However, Jinnah rejected this proposal, leading to the failure of the Gandhi-Jinnah talks in September 1944. The fundamental disagreement between Gandhi’s vision of a united India with some level of partnership and Jinnah’s demand for complete sovereignty led to a stalemate.

The issue resurfaced in 1945 when then Viceroy of India, Lord Archibald Wavell, attempted to form a coalition government involving both Congress and the Muslim League. The Simla Conference of 1945, convened to discuss the formation of an entirely Indian executive council, collapsed due to Jinnah’s demand for Muslim League’s exclusive claim to nominate Muslim members. Congress’s refusal to accept this demand, which would have confined it to representing only caste Hindus, further exacerbated tensions.

The Muslim League’s rise and mass mobilisation

During the 1940s, the Muslim League rallied widespread support among Muslims. This period saw the League’s transition from representing the landed aristocracy to gaining support from professionals, business groups, and religious leaders. The League’s campaign for Pakistan was not just political but also imbued with religious legitimacy, thanks to the support of leading ulama, pirs, and maulavis.

Photograph that documents the Partition. (Courtesy: the Partition Museum, Amritsar)

Jinnah’s leadership became increasingly authoritative, consolidating his control over the League’s provincial branches. This centralisation of power led to the marginalisation of regional leaders like A.K. Fazlul Huq in Bengal and Sir Sikander Hyat Khan in Punjab, who resisted Jinnah’s dominance. The League’s successful mass mobilisation campaigns in provinces like Bengal and Punjab were crucial in establishing Pakistan as an ideological symbol of Muslim solidarity, transcending class and regional divisions.

The electoral victory and the mandate for partition

The Muslim League’s mass mobilisation efforts culminated in the 1946 elections, which were portrayed as a plebiscite for Pakistan. The Muslim League’s sweeping victories in Muslim-majority provinces, particularly in Bengal and Punjab, solidified its position as the sole representative of Indian Muslims. In Bengal, the Muslim League won 93 per cent of Muslim votes (as mentioned in the book From Plassey To Partition And After by Sekhar Bandyopadhyaya), while in Punjab, it gained significant ground despite the opposition from the Unionist Party.

The Congress also secured a popular mandate, winning majorities in most provinces except Bengal, Sind, and Punjab. The 1946 elections marginalised other political parties, including the Communist Party, Hindu Mahasabha, and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s All India Scheduled Castes Federation. The election results were interpreted as a popular endorsement of the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan, and set the stage for the eventual partition.

In late 1946, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee recognised the untenable nature of continuing British rule in India through coercion. He cited several factors: the lack of sufficient administrative machinery, military commitments elsewhere, opposition within the Labour Party, questionable loyalty among Indian troops, and the reluctance of British forces to serve in India.

Global opinion and concerns within the United Nations further complicated the situation. Attlee’s government understood that the colonial rule could not be sustained, leading to a policy shift towards a graceful withdrawal. This was reflected in the actions of early 1946, including the announcement of the Cabinet Mission to India, which was intended to set up the constitutional framework for transferring power. While a phased withdrawal plan and a time limit on British rule were proposed, these were not fully accepted. Attlee’s approach underscored the inevitability of British departure, marking a significant shift in imperial policy towards India.

The Cabinet Mission

In 1946, the British government sent the Cabinet Mission to India to negotiate the terms of Independence. The proposal of the Mission under Pethick-Lawrence, Strafford Cripps, and AV Alexander, alongside then Viceroy Wavell rejected the idea of a sovereign Pakistan, but offered a compromise in the form of a loose federal structure with groupings of provinces. This structure would allow provinces to opt out of groups after 10 years but not from the Union.

The Mission’s goal was to grant independence, either within or outside the British Commonwealth, based on the Indian people’s choice. However, the Cabinet Mission’s plan failed to reconcile the contradictory demands of the Congress and the Muslim League. While the Muslim League insisted on the formation of Pakistan, Congress demanded complete independence for a united India.

The Mission’s rejection of a sovereign Pakistan led to further polarisation, with both parties becoming increasingly intolerant of each other’s agendas. The Mission’s failure to secure a consensus further hastened the inevitability of partition, as the political situation in India became increasingly volatile.

By the time Louis Mountbatten arrived in India, the idea of granting freedom with partition had already gained substantial acceptance. An innovative suggestion by V.P. Menon proposed the immediate transfer of power based on dominion status, which included the right to secede. This approach negated the need for a prolonged wait for consensus in the Constituent Assembly on a new political structure.

The Mountbatten plan and the partition of India

The Mountbatten Plan, announced on June 3, 1947, outlined several key points. The legislative assemblies of Punjab and Bengal were to meet in separate groups of Hindus and Muslims to vote on partition. If a simple majority in either group voted in favour of partition, the respective provinces would be divided. In the event of partition, two dominions and two constituent assemblies would be established. Sindh was allowed to make its own decision, and referendums were to be held in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Sylhet district of Bengal to determine their fate.

The Mountbatten Plan essentially conceded the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan while attempting to retain as much unity as possible. On July 5, 1947, the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act, based on the Mountbatten Plan, and it received royal assent on July 18, 1947. The Act was implemented on August 15, 1947.

The Indian Independence Act 1947

The Indian Independence Act provided for the creation of two independent dominions, India and Pakistan, effective from August 15, 1947. Each dominion was to have a Governor-General responsible for the effective operation of the Act. The Constituent Assembly of each dominion was to exercise legislative powers, and the existing Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of States were to be automatically dissolved. Until a new constitution was adopted by each dominion, the governments were to function according to the Government of India Act, 1935.

As per the Indian Independence Act, 1947, Pakistan became independent on August 14, 1947, while India gained its freedom on August 15, 1947. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was appointed the first Governor-General of Pakistan. In contrast, India requested Lord Mountbatten to continue as its Governor-General, reflecting a symbolic continuation of British oversight during the transitional period.

The partition led to massive population exchanges, communal violence, and a humanitarian crisis, as millions of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs found themselves on the wrong side of the newly drawn borders. The division of assets, including the military, civil services, and infrastructure, further complicated the process.

Post Read Question

Discuss the causes, consequences, and aftermath of the partition.

How did partition affect society and politics of India?

The speedy events under Mountbatten fail to arrange the details of partition and prevent the partition massacre. Comment.

Discuss the circumstances that forced Congress to accept the partition of India.

(Rahul Ranjan is pursuing his PhD in history from MSBU.)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.

Share your thoughts and ideas on UPSC Special articles with ashiya.parveen@indianexpress.com.

UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : History, Culture and Social Issues MCQs on AIML, Prarthana Samaj, Gender Gap Index Report 2024 (Week 71)

Are you preparing for UPSC CSE Prelims 2025? Check your progress and revise your topics through this quiz on History and Culture.

Written by Nitendra Pal Singh

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 10:15 IST

India has closed only 64.1 percent of its gender gap in 2024; check where it stands in the WEF's Global Gender Gap Report 2024. Find a question on the global gender gap report 2024 in today’s quiz. (Source: Shutterstock)

UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative of daily subject-wise quizzes. These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus.  Attempt today’s subject quiz on History, Culture and Social Issues to check your progress. Come back tomorrow to solve the Environment, Geography, Science and Technology MCQs. Don’t miss checking the answers and explanations.

🚨 The Indian Express UPSC Essentials brings to you the July edition of its monthly magazine. Click Here to read. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨

QUESTION 1

With reference to the All India Muslim League (AIML), consider the following statements:

1. The All-India Muslim League was formed at the Dacca in 1906.

2. The league was not in support of the partition of Bengal.

3. It demanded separate electorates for the Muslims.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Explanation

— In 1906, a group of Muslim landlords and nawabs met in Dacca to organise the All-India Muslim League. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— The League was in favour of partitioning Bengal. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— It demanded separate electorates for Muslims, which the government agreed to in 1909. Some council seats were allocated for Muslims, who would be elected by Muslim voters. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: ncert.nic.in)

QUESTION 2

With reference to the Prarthana Samaj, consider the following statements:

1. It sought to remove caste restrictions and abolish child marriage.

2. The Prarthana Samaj was established in 1837 in Bengal.

3. Its religious meetings drew upon Hindu, Buddhist and Christian texts.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1, 2 and 3

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1 and 3 only

Explanation

— The Prarthana Samaj was founded in 1867 in Bombay. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— The Prarthana Samaj wanted to reduce caste barriers, prohibit child marriage, promote women’s education, and lift the ban on widow remarriage. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— Its religious sessions drew on Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian texts. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: ncert.nic.in)

QUESTION 3

The partition of Bengal enraged people throughout India. Along with the Swadeshi Movement, the Vandemataram Movement was active in the following regions:

(a) Bombay

(b) Coastal Andhra

(c) Delhi and Punjab

(d) North-west frontier

Explanation

— The partition of Bengal enraged people throughout India. All sections of Congress, known as the Moderates and Radicals, opposed it.

— The struggle that emerged became known as the Swadeshi movement, which was strongest in Bengal but had echoes elsewhere, like the Vandemataram Movement in deltaic Andhra.

— The Vande Mataram movement sought to empower Indians to manage their own countries without relying on British aid. Bipin Chandra Pal’s visit to Andhra State in 1907 was instrumental in revitalising and strengthening this movement. Lal, Bal, and Pal were regarded as a trinity on this occasion. Mattnuri Krishna Rao, the editor of Krishna Patrika, arranged a visit and tour for Bipin Chandra Pal.

— The Swadeshi movement aimed to challenge British rule while promoting self-help, Swadeshi enterprise, national education, and the usage of Indian languages.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

(Source: ncert.nic.in)

QUESTION 4

Consider the following statements:

1. In addition to being a novelist, jurist, social reformer, and academic from India, he was also one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress.

2. He supported widow remarriage and women’s education while opposing child marriage and the caste system.

3. He was the editor of the Induprakash, a daily Anglo-Marathi newspaper.

4. His views strengthened the movement for women’s emancipation, and later these women played a significant role in the Indian Freedom Struggle.

The above mentioned statements refer to:

(a) Surendranath Banerjee

(b) Ram Mohun Roy

(c) M.G. Ranade

(d) Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar

Explanation

— In addition to being a novelist, jurist, social reformer, and academic from India, he was also one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress.

— He was a social reformer and thinker, who supported widow remarriage and women’s education while opposing child marriage and the caste system.

— M.G. Ranade along with Varman Abaji Modak and Dr. R.G. Bhandarkar established the Maharashtra Girls Education Society and the oldest Girls High School at Huzurpaga in Pune.

— He was the editor of the Induprakash, a daily Anglo-Marathi newspaper.

— He is considered as a stalwart of the Indian Social Reform Movement, his views strengthened the movement for women’s emancipation, and later these women played a significant role in the Indian Freedom Struggle.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: indianculture.gov.in)

QUESTION 5

With reference to the Gender Gap Index Report 2024, consider the following statements:

1. In India, economic participation and opportunity for women have seen a slight improvement.

2. The report is released by the World Economic Forum.

3. The ranking of India has topped among the Asian countries.

4. The report does not have parameters based on the political empowerment gap.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 4 only

(c) 3 and 4 only

(d) 1 and 3 only

Explanation

— The gender gap closed at 68.5 per cent in 2024, a slight 0.1 percentage point improvement from the previous year. The global health and survival gender gap has closed by 96 per cent. The educational attainment gap has closed by 94.9 per cent, the economic participation gap has closed by 60.5 per cent, and the political empowerment gap has closed by 22.5 per cent. Hence, statement 4 is not correct.

— The gender gap report is published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— In India, women’s economic engagement and opportunity have improved little, with them ranking quite high in the political empowerment metric (65th) when compared to other indicators. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— However, India’s overall performance in Southern Asia is particularly alarming, as it has closed only 64.1% of its gender gap in 2024, resulting in an overall position of 129th, slightly lower than in 2023 (127), ahead of only the Maldives and Pakistan. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

— Notably, Iceland remains at the top of the worldwide rankings, with 93.5% of the gender gap closed, having been the best-performing economy in the index for more than a decade and a half.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 71)

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 70)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 70)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 70)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 70)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.

UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on Geomagnetic storms and objectives and benefits of the Clean Plant Programme (Week 64)

Are you preparing for UPSC CSE 2024 or CSE 2025? Here are questions from GS paper 3 for this week with essential points as the fodder for your answers. Do not miss points to ponder and answer in the comment box below. Try them out.

Written by Nitendra Pal Singh

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 10:16 IST

The moon makes it way towards the horizon to set amongst red and green aurora. Attempt a question on geomagnetic storms in today’s answer writing practice. (Image credit: Matthew Dominick/X)

UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-3 to check your progress.

🚨 The Indian Express UPSC Essentials brings to you the July edition of its monthly magazine. Click Here to read. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨

QUESTION 1

What are geomagnetic storms? Discuss the impacts of geomagnetic storms on the infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface.

QUESTION 2

Examine the objectives and implementation strategies of the Centre’s Clean Plant Programme. Discuss the potential benefits associated with this initiative.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

QUESTION 1: What are geomagnetic storms? Discuss the impacts of geomagnetic storms on the infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— A geomagnetic storm is a severe disturbance of the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by a very efficient flow of energy from the solar wind into the space environment around the Earth.

— These storms are caused by variations in the solar wind, which cause significant changes in the currents, plasmas, and fields in Earth’s magnetosphere.

— Solar wind conditions that are useful for causing geomagnetic storms include persistent (for several to several hours) periods of high-speed solar wind, as well as a southern directed solar wind magnetic field (opposite to the direction of Earth’s field) near the dayside of the magnetosphere. This situation is effective in transferring energy from the solar wind to the Earth’s magnetosphere.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

What causes solar flares and auroras?

— Solar flares, also known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are produced when solar activity on the Sun’s surface peaks. These are caused by an unstable magnetic field at the surface.

— CMEs are graded according to their severity, with G1 being the mildest and G5 being the most severe.

— When charged particles (CMEs) collide with Earth’s atmosphere, they interact with gas, causing the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, to light up the sky.

Impact of geomagnetic storms

— During storms, the ionosphere gets heated and distorted, which can make long-range radio communication that depends on sub-ionospheric reflection difficult or impossible. It can also cause degradation in global positioning system (GPS) communications.

— Satellites can struggle to control their orbits due to ionospheric expansion.

— Additionally, magnetic storms can damage satellite electronics by accumulating and discharging static-electric charges. Astronauts and high-altitude pilots may also experience increased radiation levels.

— Although space currents produce rapid shifts in magnetic fields, very real consequences can still occur on Earth’s surface. This includes blackout-causing voltage surges in power systems.

Conclusion:

— Storms also cause powerful currents in the magnetosphere, changes in the radiation belts, and ionosphere alterations, which include heating of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere region known as the thermosphere.

— During storms, ionosphere currents and energetic particles that precipitate into the ionosphere add energy in the form of heat, increasing the density and distribution of density in the upper atmosphere and exerting additional drag on low-earth orbiting satellites. Local heating causes significant horizontal fluctuations in ionospheric density, which can alter the route of radio signals and cause mistakes in GPS locating information.

(Source: ‘We’re in the middle of an intense geomagnetic storm’: What NASA has to say about solar eruptions triggering colourful auroras, http://www.swpc.noaa.gov, http://www.usgs.gov)

Points to Ponder

What is the difference between aurora borealis and australis?

Different layers of the Atmosphere

Related Previous Year Question

With growing energy needs should India keep on expanding its nuclear energy programme? Discuss the facts and fears associated with nuclear energy? (2018)

QUESTION 2: Examine the objectives and implementation strategies of the Centre’s Clean Plant Programme. Discuss the potential benefits associated with this initiative.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— The Union Cabinet approved the Clean Plant Programme (CPP), aimed at increasing the yield and productivity of horticulture crops in India.

— The programme was first announced during the interim budget in 2023. The CPP is also targeted at enhancing the quality of fruit crops across the nation.

— The CPP will have three components — Clean Plant Centres (CPCs), certification and legal framework, and enhanced Infrastructure. “The programme will be implemented by the National Horticulture Board in association with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.”

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

Objectives

— To enhance yield of horticulture crops by providing disease free planting material.

— To protect the ecosystem through proactive virus and disease control measures by establishing Clean Plant Centres (CPCs).

— To enhance stakeholder capacities for the adoption and operation of clean plant production, maintenance, and distribution.

— To improve the knowledge network among research institutes, universities, knowledge centres, national and state agencies for sustainable operation of clean plant centres and nursery certification programs.

How will the CPP work?

— The initiative has three major components aimed at assisting farmers in obtaining virus-free, high-quality planting material (plants used for vegetative propagation) in order to maximise agricultural yields and income prospects. They are:

(i) Development of nine Clean Plant Centers (CPCs)

(ii) Enhancement of infrastructure, including the development of large-scale nurseries to facilitate the efficient multiplication of clean planting material

(iii) Creation of regulatory and certification process to ensure thorough accountability and traceability in the production and sale of planting material.

Benefits of the Clean Plant Programme (CPP)

— It will make high-quality, virus-free planting material accessible, resulting in higher crop yields and better financial prospects.

— The efficient propagation of clean planting material by nurseries will be made possible by streamlined certification procedures and infrastructure assistance, which will promote the nurseries’ growth and sustainability.

— Through the project, consumers will receive superior produce that is virus-free, improving the fruit’s flavour, appearance, and nutritional content.

— India will be able to increase its market share and solidify its position as a top supplier of fruits worldwide by growing its fruit supply and producing fruits free of disease.

— All farmers should have affordable access to clean plant material, irrespective of the size of their landholding or socioeconomic standing.

— Involve female farmers in its conception and execution.

— Develop clean plant types and technologies that are particular to each region of India in order to address the different agro-climatic conditions found there.

Conclusion:

— After China, India is the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables. The area planted to horticultural crops expanded from 24 million hectares to 28.63 million hectares between 2013–14 and 2023–24, while the amount produced increased from 277.4 million metric tonnes (mt) to 352 million mt.

— The Clean Plant Programme is expected to complement Mission LiFE and One Health while substantially growing India’s horticultural industry. It will lessen reliance on imported planting supplies and encourage environmentally friendly and sustainable agriculture methods. This initiative would be essential to making India a prominent fruit exporter worldwide and bringing about revolutionary transformation in the industry.

(Source: How Centre’s Clean Plant Programme plans to boost India’s production of fruits by Harikishan Sharma, pib.gov.in)

Points to Ponder

Horticulture production in India

India’s export and import of horticulture

Any government initiative other than CPP

Related Previous Year Questions

Assess the role of National Horticulture Mission (NHM) in boosting the production, productivity and income of horticulture farms. How far has it succeeded in increasing the income of farmers? (2018)

Examine the role of supermarkets in supply chain management of fruits, vegetables, and food items. How do they eliminate the number of intermediaries? (2018)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 63)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 62)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 62)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 63)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 63)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 62)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.

Explained

- Telling Numbers: How many US Vice Presidents have gone on to become President

- Microwave ovens host thriving communities of microbes: What a new study says

- What is the role of campaign cash in the US presidential election?

- What is the status of Hindus in Bangladesh?

- Why Pakistan celebrates Independence Day on August 14, and India on August 15

- What were the first postage stamps of Independent India?

- What is the drug Captagon, and how is it linked to Germany?

- Why is the Delhi HC hearing a plea against the exclusion of Section 377 from the new criminal laws?

- How broiler chicken industry has become India’s most organised and vertically integrated agri-business

- Amid Hindenburg probe calls, look at JPCs on financial allegations

- Ex-ISI chief who went to Kabul after Taliban takeover, arrested: reasons and context

- Trump-Musk interview on X reportedly hit by DDoS attack: What it means

- What is Bangladesh’s St Martin’s Island, under spotlight after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation?

- Why the withdrawal of the draft Broadcast Bill raises more questions than it answers

- How Tungabhadra dam gate was swept away, why farmers are fearful

- All you need to know about the Hindenburg-Adani-Buch saga

Telling Numbers: How many US Vice Presidents have gone on to become President

It is fairly common for vice presidents to run for the top job after their term. But very few of them actually succeed.

By: Express News Service

New Delhi | August 15, 2024 09:07 IST

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at her Presidential Campaign headquarters in Wilmington. (Reuters/File)

49 people have served as the Vice President of the US.

29 Vice Presidents have gone on to formally seek a party’s presidential nomination, either immediately after their vice presidency or later on.

10 of these vice presidents have successfully secured the top job.

The trend of Vice Presidents seeking the presidency has become more common in modern times.

15 of 18 Vice Presidents have launched presidential campaigns, since the first term of President Franklin D Roosevelt began in 1933.

5 of these 15 have emerged victorious. They are Democrats Harry Truman, Lyndon B Johnson and Joe Biden, and Republicans Richard Nixon and George H W Bush.

This list does not include Gerald R Ford, who took over as President following Richard Nixon’s resignation, but lost the subsequent election to Jimmy Carter. This is unlike Truman (FDR’s successor) and Johnson (Kennedy’s successor) who won subsequent presidential elections.

3 modern Vice Presidents — Henry Wallace (1948), Walter Mondale (1984), and Al Gore (2000) — have won their party’s nomination but lost the general election.

5 modern Vice Presidents — John Nance Garner (1940), Alben Barkley (1952), Hubert Humphrey (1972), Dan Quayle (2000), and Mike Pence (2024) — have failed to secure their party’s nomination.

Microwave ovens host thriving communities of microbes: What a new study says

The findings challenge the long-held belief that microwave radiation used to warm food completely kills bacteria, which can cause food-borne illnesses.

By: Express News Service

New Delhi | August 15, 2024 09:07 IST

The new study, ‘The microwave bacteriome: biodiversity of domestic and laboratory microwave ovens’, was published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology last week.

Microwave ovens used in homes, offices, and laboratories host thriving communities of microbes, according to a new study. The findings challenge the long-held belief that microwave radiation used to warm food completely kills bacteria, which can cause food-borne illnesses.

However, this does not mean that the microbes found in microwaves present a unique or increased risk compared with other parts of kitchens. Previous studies have shown that kitchen appliances such as coffee makers and dishwashers host distinct communities of microbes.

“What is clear is that one cannot trust a microwave to be a cleaner environment in terms of microorganisms compared to another kitchen surface. They must be cleaned like the rest of the kitchen,” Manuel Porcar, a microbiologist at the University of Valencia in Spain and co-author of the study, told New Scientist magazine in an interview.

The new study, ‘The microwave bacteriome: biodiversity of domestic and laboratory microwave ovens’, was published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology last week.

How was the study carried out?

The team of researchers took samples from 30 microwave ovens in homes, scientific laboratories, and shared kitchens, such as in office spaces and cafeterias.

The researchers then cultured its samples — a method of multiplying microorganisms to determine the type of organism in the sample being tested — in Petri dishes, and identified the genera or groups of the microbes that flourished. They also sequenced the DNA in the samples to get further information about bacteria found in the microwaves.

What were the findings of the study?

The researchers found 747 different genera of bacteria in the cultured samples. “The dominant ones belonged to the Bacillus, Micrococcus and Staphylococcus genera, which commonly live on human skin and surfaces that people frequently touch. Human-skin bacteria were present in all three types of microwave ovens, but were more abundant in the household and shared-use appliances,” according to a report on the study by the journal Nature.

Some bacteria found in domestic microwaves, such as Klebsiella, Enterococcus, and Aeromonas, may pose a risk to human health.

Samples from lab microwave ovens contained the most diverse bacteria, including “extremophiles” or microbes that can withstand high radiation, high temperatures, and extreme dryness.

Belinda Ferrari, a researcher at the University of New South Wales (Australia) told New Scientist that she was not surprised that the researchers found bacteria living in microwaves. “They can survive in almost any extreme-exposure environment and they can adapt to everything,” she said.

Ferrari also underlined the importance of cleaning microwave ovens regularly with disinfectant products. “Some workplace microwaves are disgusting and no one cleans them,” she said.

What is the role of campaign cash in the US presidential election?

In the US, election campaigns cost billions of dollars. The money comes mainly from billionaires and business leaders hoping to gain influence. Will the candidate who raises the most money win?

By: Deutsche Welle

New Delhi | August 15, 2024 07:02 IST

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees (left); Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) the Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees (right) (Photos - New York Times)

Written by Insa Wrede

There is most probably no other political office in the world that requires so deep a pocket to win than that of the president of the United States. During their 2020 campaigns, then incumbent President Donald Trump and his challenger, Joe Biden, spent a combined $5.7 billion (€5.2 billion) to win over the hearts and minds of voters — a new record for a US presidential election, according to OpenSecrets, a US nonprofit which tracks and monitors campaign finance and lobbying.

This year’s presidential campaigns are seemingly running just as smoothly when it comes to funds, with the war chest of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s candidate, bulging from the $310 million she reportedly received in donations in July alone.

In the same month, Republican Party candidate and former US President Donald Trump claimed to have received about $138 million in contributions, news agency Reuters reported.

The huge sums are raised not only through donations from countless small donors, but mainly from the superrich and corporate America.

Money makes US politics

It’s no secret that those donating to fundraising campaigns often hope to foster their own goals with their contributions.

LinkedIn co-founder and Microsoft board member Reid Hoffman, for example, made a $7 million contribution to the Democratic campaign, telling television news channel CNN later that he isn’t happy with the head of the US Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, who was “waging war on American business.” He openly expressed his hope that Harris would “replace” her.

Trump, meanwhile, has also received political and financial backing from big donors, including Timothy Mellon, scion of the Pittsburgh banking family, who has put $50 million behind Trump. Tech investor David Sacks and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are also backing Trump.

Close allies of Musk have formed a so-called super PAC to support Trump, which is expected to pump millions of dollars into Trump’s reelection campaign. No Musk donations to the group have yet been disclosed to the Federal Election Commission, but those close to the billionaire have said he is expected to financially support the effort.

The so-called super Political Action Committees (super PACs) are independent political organizations to which donors can give unlimited amounts of money, while donations to individuals or non-super PACs are capped.

During a live chat with Elon Musk on his social media platform X on Monday, August 12, Trump signaled his willingness to offer the Tesla CEO a role in his administration in a proposed so-called government efficiency commission. “I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that takes a look at these things and just ensures that taxpayer money… is spent in a good way,” said Musk. “I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.”

Supreme Court ruling opened donation spigots

In 2010, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that’s become a landmark in campaign-funding jurisdiction. Jörg Hebenstreit, an expert on US domestic politics and campaign finance at the University of Jena in Germany, described it as a turning point in US politics.

The court ruled that “corporations may enjoy the same rights as natural persons,” meaning that any restriction on political campaign financing is ultimately censorship, which is illegal. “Since 2010, you can basically raise as much money as you want, whether you’re a corporation, a bank, a union, an interest group, or a wealthy individual,” Hebenstreit told DW.

However, there are restrictions on direct donations. Currently, an individual can donate a maximum of $6,600 directly to candidates and their teams in the primary and general elections. In addition, there is the option to support a preferred candidate through PACs. Most PACs represent businesses, unions or interest groups and collect donations from members or employees. Individuals can donate up to $5,000 per year to such PACs. They can also give up to $41,300 per year to national party organizations.

The super PAC workaround

However, those seeking to donate more than the mandated limits can establish super PACs which are essentially independent lobbying groups. The condition is that their advertising must not be directly coordinated with the candidates’ campaigns. This condition is officially monitored by the Federal Election Commission. But Hebestreit said that the “coordination ban” can be “circumvented through dozens of loopholes.”

According to OpenSecrets, during the current campaigns for US president, some 2,257 super PACs have already been formed. They’ve collected a combined $2 billion in donations, of which some $700 million have already been spent.

James Davis, a US political scientist from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, told DW that the sums are “staggering” and that analysts have “never seen anything like this before.”

Does campaign money wield influence?

But Hebestreit pointed out that research had shown that donations “actually have little effect” in US presidential campaigns. “Both candidates are usually well-known, and whether they invest another $100 million ultimately has no impact on the actual election outcome,” he said.

Davis believes a minimum level of donations is certainly necessary to build a party organization for the campaign, and that it’s “crucial” to motivate people to actually go to the polls. “At the end of the day, though, it’s important to have a message that resonates with voters,” he added, pointing to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, which raised much more money than her rival Trump, but still didn’t help her win.

What often happens, though, is that big donors are able to secure influence on politics even after the election. “When someone donates millions it won’t be a coincidence if that person eventually receives an invitation to an event where the newly elected president just happens to be present,” said Davis.

Hebestreit added that some donors are even offered Cabinet posts, ambassadorial jobs or other diplomatic positions, which open up doors to the corridors of power in the administration.

Much despised, but essential in US politics

According to an opinion poll conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Center, seven out of 10 US adults want limits on the amount individuals or organizations can donate to political campaigns. Eight out of 10 respondents believe people who donate money to political campaigns have too much influence on the decisions of Congress members, the independent nonpartisan think tank found.

However, Hebenstreit believes there is little chance of curbing these financial flows because a change in the laws would require a political majority in Congress, which is currently lacking. After all, one reason why US campaigns are so expensive is that unlike those in other countries, they cannot rely on public campaign financing, he added.

Additionally, the entire party apparatus has to be rebuilt for each presidential election, Davis explained. “You could almost say that a party only comes together on a federal level every four years, which means that this organization has to be rebuilt every four years, in 50 states and in the respective districts,” he said.

And finally, in a media-driven country like the US where most of the big networks are in private hands, running nationwide campaigns costs a lot of money.

What is the status of Hindus in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh’s minority Hindus have faced more than 200 attacks in 50-odd districts since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5. As policing collapsed, at least five people were reported killed in attacks on Hindu families, institutions, and temples.

Written by Arjun Sengupta

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:47 IST

Muhammad Yunus at the Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka. (PTI)

Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh’s caretaker government, visited the Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka on Tuesday, and assured leaders of the Hindu community that “we are all one people”, and “justice will be given to all”.

Bangladesh’s minority Hindus have faced more than 200 attacks in 50-odd districts since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5. As policing collapsed, at least five people were reported killed in attacks on Hindu families, institutions, and temples.

The largest minority

Bangladesh’s 2022 census counted a little more than 13.1 million Hindus, who made up 7.96% of the country’s population. Other minorities (Buddhists, Christians, etc.) together constituted less than 1%. Muslims were 91.08% of Bangladesh’s 165.16 million people.

The share of Hindus in the population varies widely across Bangladesh’s eight divisions — from just 3.94% in Mymensingh to 13.51% in Sylhet (See map).

In four of Bangladesh’s 64 districts, every fifth person is a Hindu — Gopalganj in Dhaka division (26.94% of the district population), Moulvibazar in Sylhet division (24.44%), Thakurgaon in Rangpur division (22.11%), and Khulna in Khulna division (20.75%).

Hindus were more than 15% of the population in 13 districts, and more than 10% in 21 districts, according to the 2022 count.

Declining share in population

Historically, Hindus had a much bigger share of the population in the Bengali-speaking region that makes up today’s Bangladesh. At the beginning of the last century, they constituted about a third of the population of this region (See chart). There has been a significant demographic shift since then.

Every census since 1901 has indicated a decline in the share of Hindus in the population of what is today’s Bangladesh. This decline was the steepest between the censuses of 1941 and 1974, i.e. when Bangladesh was East Pakistan.

Notably however, only the 1951 census reported a significant fall in the absolute numbers of Hindus compared with the previous (1941) count — from about 11.8 million to about 9.2 million. The number recovered gradually to reach the pre-Partition level of 11.8 million in the 2001 census.

The population of Muslims in this region rose from about 29.5 million in 1941 to 110.4 million in 2001. The increase in the proportion of Muslims in the population — from an estimated 66.1% in 1901 to more than 91% today — corresponds to the percentage decline in the Hindu population during this time.

Multiple factors — including some that predate the Partition — are behind this change.

Fertility rates differential

According to estimates by scholars, the fertility rate among Muslims has historically been higher than that of Hindus in Bengal. Data from the first census of India (1872) onward support this hypothesis, primarily based on a comparison between Hindu-majority West Bengal and Muslim-majority East Bengal.

The American anthropologist David Mandelbaum argued that the impact of religion on the differential fertility rates in Bengal was indirect, and acted primarily through educational and economic factors. (Human Fertility in India, 1974) Muslims across Bengal belonged to the lower socio-economic strata and lagged in education — both factors associated with higher fertility rates. They were also more rural, and engaged in agriculture, again a factor associated with larger family sizes and consequently, fertility when compared to urban households.

This trend continued after Partition. The total marital fertility rate (a lifetime measure of marital fertility) of Muslims was 7.6 children per woman compared with 5.6 for Hindus, demographers J Stoeckel and M A Choudhury wrote in their 1969 paper ‘Differential Fertility in a Rural Area of East Pakistan’, published in the journal The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly.

While fertility rates in both communities have fallen since, the total fertility rate of Hindus was 1.9 children per woman compared with 2.3 for Muslims in 2014, M Moinuddin Haider, Mizanur Rahman, and Nahid Kamal wrote in their 2019 paper ‘Hindu Population Growth in Bangladesh: A Demographic Puzzle’ published in the Journal of Religion and Demography.

Partition and migration

Bengal and Punjab were the two provinces of British India that were divided between India and Pakistan on the lines of religion. The division was haphazard, often arbitrary, and left a trail of violence and trauma whose reverberations can be felt even now. However, in Bengal, unlike Punjab, there was no massive, state-facilitated exchange of population across the new border in 1947.

Historian Gyanesh Kudaisya wrote that 11.4 million Hindus (42% of the Hindu population of undivided Bengal) remained in East Bengal after Partition. “In 1947, only 344,000 Hindu refugees came into West Bengal, and the hope lingered among the minorities of East Pakistan that they could continue to live there peacefully,” Kudaisya wrote. (‘Divided Landscapes, Fragmented Identities: East Bengal Refugees and Their Rehabilitation in India, 1947-79’ in The Long History of Partition in Bengal: Event, Memory, Representations, 2024)

The movement of refugees took place through the 1950s and 1960s, and volumes varied based on community relations between Hindus and Muslims. Even when major riots were not taking place, Hindus in Bangladesh faced what scholars Sekhar Bandyopadhyay and Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury called “‘conjunctural violence’ caused by the specific circumstances of Partition”. This did not amount to “more than verbal abuse and minor physical intimidation, prompted by an unusual resource crunch and severe scarcity of space caused by the steady flow of Muhajir migration from India”. (Caste and Partition in Bengal: The Story of Dalit Refugees, 1946-1961, 2022).

Kudaisya wrote: “1948 saw an influx of 786,000 people into India, and in 1949, over 213,000 Bengali refugees crossed over the border into West Bengal… An estimated 1,575,000 people left East Bengal in 1950…another 187,000 refugees came [in 1951], followed by another 200,000 in 1952… 76,000 persons coming to India in 1953, 118,000 in 1954, and 240,000 in 1955… In 1955, when Pakistan adopted an ‘Islamic’ constitution, the number of incoming refugees again mounted to 320,000… This process of gradual displacement continued throughout the 1960s.”

Assam (including present-day Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Mizoram), West Bengal, and Tripura recorded unprecedented increases in population between 1951 and 1961, which scholars attribute entirely to the arrival of refugees from East Pakistan.

Another wave of migration took place in 1971, as the Pakistani Army and its collaborators went on a murderous campaign against Bengalis before the Liberation War. According to Indian estimates, approximately 9.7 million Bengalis sought refuge in India during the conflict, around 70% of whom were Hindu.

“The West Pakistani generals had calculated that by forcing millions of East Pakistani Hindus to flee to India they would weaken Bengali nationalism as a political force,” Sanjib Baruah wrote for The Indian Express in 2021.

Since the formation of Bangladesh, migration of Hindus into India has decreased. Porous borders, well-established familial and kinship networks in India, and periodic inter-religious tensions in Bangladesh are drivers of this migration.

Why Pakistan celebrates Independence Day on August 14, and India on August 15

While Pakistan and India both attained Independence on the same day, Pakistan has celebrated its Independence Day a day before India.

By: Explained Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 18:36 IST

Students wave national flags during a ceremony to commemorate Pakistan Independence Day, at the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, in Karachi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (PTI Photo)

Pakistan celebrates its Independence Day on August 14, one day before India marks its Independence on August 15. Here is why.

Randomly chosen date

Clement Atlee’s Labour government in Britain chose Lord Louis Mountbatten to be the Viceroy of India in February 1947, and gave him the mandate to transfer power into the hands of Indians no later than June 30, 1948. However, as C Rajagopalachari later said, if Mountbatten would have waited till June 1948, “there would have been no power left to transfer”.

Amidst growing communal tensions, and a devolving law and order situation, Mountbatten decided to advance the date of transfer of power to August 1947. At the time, he (quite foolishly, in retrospect) claimed that this would prevent violence and bloodshed. What is more likely is that Mountbatten simply wanted Britain to get out before the violence got really bad.

Independence on August 15

Based on Mountbatten’s inputs, the Indian Independence Bill was introduced in the British House of Commons on July 4, 1947. This was passed within a fortnight, and said that British rule in India would end on August 15, 1947 with the establishment of two dominions — India and Pakistan. However, the borders of the two new countries would not be made public till August 17.

Mountbatten later claimed, as quoted in Larry Collins’ and Dominique Lapierre’s Freedom at Midnight (1975), that “The date I chose came out of the blue… I was determined to show I was master of the whole event. When they asked had we set a date, I knew it had to be soon. I hadn’t worked it out exactly then — I thought it had to be about August or September and I then went out to the 15th August. Why? Because it was the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender.”

On August 15, 1945, Japanese Emperor Hirohito, in a recorded radio address, announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies, officially ending World War II. Mountbatten, as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Command, signed the formal Japanese surrender of Singapore on September 4, 1945.

“So freedom finally came on a day that resonated with imperial pride rather than nationalist sentiment,” historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in India After Gandhi (2007). Many Indians would have preferred January 26, the day that had been observed as the Independence Day since 1930, after Congress’ Purna Swaraj Declaration.

Pakistan’s case

So, why does Pakistan mark its independence on August 14? Did it get freedom one day in advance?

No. The Indian Independence Bill chose August 15 as the date of independence for both India and Pakistan. In fact, the first stamp issued by Pakistan mentioned August 15 as Independence Day. So did Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Qaid-e-Azam (Great Leader) of Pakistan, in his first address to newly-independent Pakistan. Jinnah said: “August 15 is the birthday of the independent and sovereign state of Pakistan. It marks the fulfilment of the destiny of the Muslim nation which made great sacrifices in the past few years to have its homeland.”

The change to August 14 took place in 1948 for one of two reasons. First is that the ceremony for the transfer of power was actually held during the day on August 14, 1947 in Karachi. Mountbatten concluded the ceremony there before hopping onto an airplane to arrive at New Delhi, where the ceremony began at 11 pm on August 14 and the transfer of power officially took place at midnight. Second, August 14, 1947, was the 27th day in the month of Ramzan, a very holy date in the Islamic character.

Since 1948, Pakistan has maintained August 14 as its Independence Day while India keeps the original August 15 date.

What were the first postage stamps of Independent India?

Three postage stamps were issued to commemorate India’s independence — all of them featured the date August 15, 1947, and the words ‘Jai Hind’ in the Devanagari script.

Written by Vandana Kalra

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 17:51 IST

The first stamp, issued in November 1947, depicted the Indian flag — flying in the sky, among clouds. Its denomination was three-and-a-half annas. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

After India gained independence on August 15, 1947, the Indian Post and Telegraph Department wanted to commemorate the occasion by issuing a special stamp. The department, however, could not do so due to the Partition and the required rearrangements and transfer of management.

The first stamp of Independent India was finally released on November 21, 1947.

Here is a look at that stamp and a brief postal history of pre-Independent India.

The first stamps of Independent India

Three postage stamps were issued to commemorate India’s independence — all of them featured the date August 15, 1947, and the words ‘Jai Hind’ in the Devanagari script.

The first stamp, issued in November 1947, depicted the Indian flag — flying in the sky, among clouds. Its denomination was three-and-a-half annas.

The other two commemorative stamps were released in December 1947. One of them depicted the Lion Capital of Ashoka — the head of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath in 250 BCE. The stamp carried the image of the sculpture with three Asiatic lions (the fourth being hidden from view), a wheel in relief with a bull on the right and a horse on the left, and a bell-shaped lotus below. It was priced at one-and-a-half annas.

Another stamp of a flying Douglas DC-4 aircraft was priced at 12 annas.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Brief postal history of pre-independent India

Although the Mughals used a communication system known as “dawk” or “dak” — with “horse runners” for speedy deliveries and foot runners for shorter distances — a more formal postal system in India was established with the advent of the East India Company in India.

Initially, in the 1720s, the company set up a postal service primarily for internal communication. In 1766, then Governor-General Robert Clive set up a regular postal system, and in 1774, Warren Hastings took the initiative of establishing the first GPO (General Post Office) in Calcutta. The Madras GPO opened in 1786, followed by the Bombay GPO in 1794.

The Post Office Act,1837, gave the government the exclusive right to convey letters in the territories of the East India Company. In 1854, uniform postage rates were introduced across the country.

How Asia’s first stamps were issued in undivided India

In 1852, India became the first country in Asia to issue its own postage stamps. Introduced in the Sindh district and circular in shape, the stamp named “Scinde Dawk” was introduced as part of the postal reforms by the Governor of the district, Sir Bartle Frere.

Before the introduction of the stamps, postage was paid by the recipient of the letter, who could decline to accept the post. Valued at half anna, Scinde Dawk bore the Merchant’s Mark of the East India Company with a heart-shaped motif divided into three sections, each containing one of the letters EIC, representing the East India Company. The value, half an anna, was written below. Encircling the design was the inscription “Scinde district dawk” in capital letters.

In 1854, the first postal stamps valid throughout India were issued, bearing Queen Victoria’s portrait. The railway mail service was introduced in India in the same year.

What is the drug Captagon, and how is it linked to Germany?

The trial of four men accused of being behind a record-breaking drug bust worth €58 million has begun in Germany. But what is Captagon, where does it come from and what does Germany have to do with it?

By: Deutsche Welle

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 17:43 IST

Tablets part of a record seizure of Captagon made in Germany in 2023 . (Photo - Deutsche Welle)

Written by Fred Schwaller

Following the record discovery of hundreds of kilos of Captagon tablets in Germany in December 2023, the trial against four men began in Aachen on Wednesday. They are alleged to have sold tablets worth more than €58 million (63 million) euros abroad.

Captagon, commonly known as “poor man’s cocaine,” has emerged as the drug of choice among young adults throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

The 2023 bust in Germany indicates the drug could be more common in European countries than previously thought.

Captagon was made illegal in 1986 in most countries and discontinued in medical markets. However, an illicit version of Captagon emerged in eastern Europe and the Middle East in the early 2000s.

What is Captagon?

Captagon is a synthetic drug which was originally manufactured in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s where it was intended to treat attention deficit disorders.

Use of captagon is prevalent among young people in the Middle East, most commonly as a party drug.

Reports also suggest fighters in the Syrian conflict commonly use the drug to boost combat performance and reduce fatigue.

The pill contains fenethylline, a synthetic amphetamine, caffeine, and other stimulants. Fenethylline is metabolized by the body into two molecules: amphetamine and theophylline, both of which are stimulants.

How addictive is Captagon?

Its effects on the nervous system are similar to amphetamine. As a psychostimulant, Captagon can induce euphoria, increased wakefulness and increased physical and mental performance.

But heavy use carries risks of impaired cognitive function and cardiovascular defects. It can also be addictive.

A major issue is that some of the pills being produced in illicit labs contain high quantities of fenethylline. The makeup of today’s Captagon can vary wildly, and the lack of knowledge increases the risk of them containing toxic chemicals.

Where is Captagon made?

Syria has become the largest producer and exporter of Captagon over the last decade, leading experts to name it the Middle East’s narco state.

A UK government statement estimated that 80% of the world’s Captagon is produced in Syria.

Captagon’s popularity skyrocketed in Syria following the 2011 Arab Spring protests. Investigative reports by major media outlets like the BBC have revealed how the Syrian drug industry facilitates all stages of Captagon production and smuggling.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has denied any organized efforts by his government to profit from the drug.

With severe international sanctions in place since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Captagon has become an economic lifeline for the Syrian government. In 2021 alone, the Captagon drug trade had an estimated worth of $5.7 billion (€5.35 billion) in Syria.

The drug is predominantly exported to Gulf countries and neighboring Iraq and Jordan, often hidden in products like grains and fruits.

Hezbollah in Lebanon, a close ally of the Assad regime, is also reportedly a large manufacturer of the drug.

Where is Captagon exported?

Captagon has become a major concern for countries in the Middle East like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

All surrounding countries have strict anti-drug laws, with harsh penalties for those caught in the trade. However, Captagon is still smuggled in large quantities from Syria and Lebanon.

Jordan is a serious player in the fight to stem the illegal trade. The country’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, announced in July that more than 65 million Captagon pills had been seized over the last two years.

The Jordanian army has reportedly instituted a “shoot-to-kill” policy against drug smugglers along its border with Syria.

In August 2022, Saudi authorities seized over 46 million pills being smuggled in a shipment of flour passing through the Riyadh Dry Port.

Is Captagon spreading elsewhere?

Reliable statistics on the use of Captagon are nonexistent, and authorities remain blind to how widespread the drug is around the world.

However, there are rising concerns Captagon is increasingly becoming an issue for European countries as well.

A recent report from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) suggests Europe could become a key transshipment area for Captagon bound for the Middle East. The 2023 bust in Germany gives credence to the report.

The report states that around 127 million tablets (1,773 kilograms) of the drug were reportedly seized by EU member states from 2018 to 2023. The largest seizure of 84 million tablets was in Salerno, Italy, in 2020.

Captagon is reportedly also being produced in the EU, predominantly in illegal laboratories in the Netherlands. The drug is most commonly produced from amphetamine powder.

The EMCDDA report also underlines the need for coordinated EU action to tackle the production of Captagon within the EU, and prevent the EU being used as a transshipment zone for Captagon produced in the Middle East.

At the time of writing, no data was available on the estimated usage of the drug in EU countries and the Middle East.

Why is the Delhi HC hearing a plea against the exclusion of Section 377 from the new criminal laws?

Although the Supreme Court reinterpreted the provision in 2018, Section 377 remained in the text of the IPC until the BNS came into force — where it was deleted entirely.

Written by Ajoy Sinha Karpuram

New Delhi | August 14, 2024 15:13 IST

The Delhi High Court directed the Centre to return on August 28 to clarify its stance on non-consensual sexual offences following the deletion of Section 377. (File)

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (August 13) directed the Centre to clarify its stance on non-consensual sexual offences against LGBTQIA+ persons and men under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). The new criminal law came into force on July 1, 2024, and replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).

The development has come nearly six years after the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India decriminalised homosexuality by ruling that Section 377 (unnatural offences) of the IPC does not punish people in same-sex relationships. This provision punished anyone who “voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”. Though the SC reinterpreted the provision, Section 377 remained in the text of the IPC until the BNS came into force — where it was deleted entirely.

However, this may have unforeseen consequences, according to the petitioners who have approached the Delhi HC. They have argued that Section 377 provided protections to men and LGBTQIA+ individuals from non-consensual sexual intercourse even after the SC’s 2018 verdict.

What are the concerns surrounding the removal of Section 377? Does the BNS provide any alternate protections?

Rape under the BNS and ‘Unnatural offences’ under the IPC

Chapter V of the BNS is titled “Of offences against women and child” and provides the definition and punishment for the crime of rape under Section 63. However, the language of the section is gendered — it only considers rape in the context of a man committing the crime against a woman.

On the other hand, Section 377 (while it was still on the books) severely punished non-consensual intercourse “with any man, woman or animal”. Offenders could be punished with imprisonment for life and a fine.

In 2018, the SC delivered its verdict on the challenge to Section 377. It referred to those areas of the section that criminalised consensual unnatural sex as “irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary”. The court also noted that Section 377 was used as a weapon to harass members of the LGBTQIA+ community, resulting in discrimination against them.

“Section 377 is arbitrary. The LGBT community possesses rights like others. Majoritarian views and popular morality cannot dictate constitutional rights,” the court said.

However, the court clarified that its judgement was limited to decriminalising consensual sex between adults.

In its 2023 report on the BNS, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs recommended retaining Section 377 in the BNS. It said, “Following this decision (in Navtej Singh Johar), section 377, IPC is now applied to prosecute only non-consensual sexual acts…[I]n the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, no provision for non-consensual sexual offence against male, female, transgender and for bestiality has been made.”

The case at the Delhi HC so far

On Monday (August 12), a Delhi HC bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela began to hear a PIL filed by lawyer Gantavya Gulati. The petitioner argued that “Section 377 of IPC in its absence poses threat to every individual but especially LGBTQ persons”. The petitioner also said the BNS does not contain any protections for a man who is sexually assaulted by another man.

The Centre, however, argued that the court could not direct the legislature to enact a provision, even if there were an anomaly in the law. The government’s counsel pointed out that a representation had already been filed flagging this issue with the union government and is pending consideration.

The bench directed the Centre to return on August 28 to clarify its stance on non-consensual sexual offences following the deletion of Section 377.

Alternative protections under the BNS

Section 36 of the BNS provides every person with the “right of private defence” to protect their own body or the body of another person “against any offence affecting the human body”. This right also extends to protecting property from the offences of “theft, robbery, mischief or criminal trespass”.

Section 38 details the situations where this right allows the “voluntary causing of death or of any other harm to the assailant”. This includes situations where a person is faced with “an assault with the intention of committing rape” or “an assault with the intention of gratifying unnatural lust”. Unlike the offence of rape, these provisions are not limited to women or any specific gender.

Section 140 also punishes kidnapping or abduction where the victim is “subjected to grievous hurt, or slavery, or to the unnatural lust of any person”. However, in both cases (private defence and kidnapping) the phrase “unnatural lust” has not been defined.

How broiler chicken industry has become India’s most organised and vertically integrated agri-business

The broiler integration companies have turned poultry farming – traditionally based on rearing 10-20 free-range/backyard breed birds fed on agricultural byproducts and kitchen waste – into a commercial enterprise even for smallholders.

Written by Harish Damodaran

Updated: August 14, 2024 11:30 IST

Newly-hatched pre-vaccinated day-old chicks at IB Group's commercial broiler hatchery in Mundgaon, Rajnandgaon. (Express Photo by Harish Damodaran)

Raghuvendra Verma has 2.5 acres of land, on which he grows paddy, chana (chickpea) and moong (green gram) in one acre. On the remaining 1.5 acres, he raises broiler meat chickens in two environmentally-controlled (EC) poultry sheds, housing 11,000 and 9,000 birds respectively. The 38-year-old from Devkatta village in Dongarghar tehsil of Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district rears them for about 37 days – from day- old chicks (DOC) weighing 35-45 gm, to slaughter-ready birds of roughly 2.5 kg.

Verma does six such cycles annually, each of some 60 days that includes 20 days of “downtime” for litter removal, floor cleaning and pressure washing of equipment. His six batches last year (mid-May 2023 to mid-May 2024) yielded marketable birds with aggregate weight of 320,865 kg.

Contract farming

The DOCs at Verma’s farm come from a broiler hatchery of the IB Group at Mundgaon in Dongarghar tehsil. This Rs 11,000 crore-turnover concern, officially ABIS Exports (India) Private Limited, also supplies the feed for his birds and farm cleaning chemicals (copper sulphate, formalin, bleaching  powder and hydrochloric acid).

The broiler feed comprises a pre-starter (400 gm for 12 days when the chicks grow to 400 gm), starter (1,200 gm from 12 to 25 days, when they reach 1,300 gm) and a finisher (after 25 days). In all, the birds consume around 3,300 gm of feed to grow to 2 kg and 4,000 gm for 2.5 kg. At the end of the rearing period, the IB Group/ABIS takes back the mature birds. Their marketing is its responsibility. Verma is paid a minimum “growing charge” (GC) of Rs 10/kg. That can go up if market prices go up or he produces birds with lower mortality rates, above average body weight and less feed consumed for every kg (also called feed conversion ratio, an indicator of management efficiency).

Raghuvendra Verma at his 11,000-bird environmentally-controlled poultry house in Devkatta village of Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district. (Express Photo by Harish Damodaran)

Last year, Verma received an average GC of Rs 14.89/kg, which, on 320,865 kg, translated into a gross revenue of Rs 47.78 lakh. After deducting expenses – mainly on labour, electricity, diesel and rice husk (used as bedding material for the chicks) – of close to Rs 2.5 lakh per cycle or Rs 15 lakh annually, he netted Rs 32-33 lakh.

Verma has invested Rs 90 lakh on the two EC sheds having automatic feeding and drinking lines (one pan for every 30 birds and one water nipple for 10-12 birds), exhaust and air circulation fans, cooling pads, lighting and diesel brooders (to provide heat and keep the chicks warm in the initial few days).

Each enclosed shed also has a control panel for regulating the feeding, brooding and lighting systems, besides maintaining the required temperature, humidity and ventilation levels. The optimum temperatures for bird growth are 32-34 degrees Celsius in the first three days, gradually reducing to 26-28 degrees during 12-24 days and 24 degrees or below after 35 days.

EC versus Open

Digeshwar Sinha (30), a five acre-farmer from Shikari Tola village in Khairagarh tehsil of Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district, has a smaller 3,300-sq ft “open” poultry house for 2,500 birds.

With a basic shed, feeders and drinkers, fans, sprinklers and jute curtains to beat the summer heat, wood shavings-fired bukharis or gas brooders (each for 800-1,500 birds, as against diesel brooders that can cater to 5,000), and no automation, his investment is only Rs 9 lakh.

Open houses require more space for each chick (1.3-1.4 sq ft, compared to 0.65 in EC sheds). The birds reared here have generally higher bird  mortality rates (10-12% versus 3-5%), while taking longer to weigh 2 kg (34-35 versus 32-33 days) and 2.5 kg (40-42 versus 37 days).

Sinha, however, manages the farm well mostly with his own labour. In his last cycle, only 71 out of the 2,520 birds died. The ones marketed had a total weight of 5,954 kg or 2.43 kg average.

Digeshwar Sinha at his 2,500-bird “open” poultry house in Shikari Tola village of Chhattisgarh’s Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district. (Express Photo by Harish Damodaran)

With 9,480 kg of feed consumed, his conversion ratio of 1.59 was within the 1.45-1.6 range for EC houses. While the base GC for open houses is Rs 8/kg, the IB Group paid him Rs 13.25/kg. Minus expenditure of Rs 21,000 on Rs 78,890 of gross revenue, his net income from that batch – he, too, does six in a year – was nearly Rs 58,000.

The Rajnandgaon-headquartered ABIS Exports – the first name is derived from the initials of its founders: Amir, Bahadur, Iqbal and Sultan Ali – has 30,000-odd broiler farmers like Verma and Sinha across India. They are supplied DOCs (each costing Rs 28 and pre-vaccinated for Gumboro/Infectious Bursal Disease and Newcastle Disease), feed (Rs 40/kg) and technical inputs (through line supervisors making 5-6 visits during every cycle).

The company also markets the fully-grown birds that are directly lifted from their farms by traders.

The above integrated contract farming model was pioneered by the Coimbatore-based Suguna Foods. Out of the estimated 14 crore DOCs placed every week in broiler farms all over India, IB Group/ABIS and Suguna account for 1-1.1 crore each. Other major broiler integrators are the Venkateshwara Hatcheries (VH) Group, Baramati Agro and Premium Chick Feeds (all in Pune) and Shalimar Group (Kolkata). Each does 30-60 lakh of weekly chick placements.

The ultimate integration

The broiler integration companies have turned poultry farming – traditionally based on rearing 10-20 free-range/backyard breed birds fed on agricultural byproducts and kitchen waste – into a commercial enterprise even for smallholders. Almost 40% of the IB Group’s 30,000 farmers own EC houses, having anywhere from 9,000-10,000 to 24,000-25,000 chicks with an initial investment of Rs 450-500/chick.

The broiler industry is arguably India’s most organised and vertically integrated agri-business today. Dairies may procure milk directly from farmers, but don’t supply them cows or buffaloes. The poultry integrators have their own feed plants as well as commercial broiler hatcheries.

IB/ABIS has 10 hatcheries – two in Rajnandgaon and the rest in Rajpura (Punjab), Muzaffarpur (Bihar), Jagdishpur (Uttar Pradesh), Jalpaiguri (West Bengal), Nagaon (Assam), Jajpur (Odisha), Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Kolar (Karnataka).

These can load over 65 crore eggs annually for hatching into chicks, which are dispatched the same day to reach broiler farms within 12-15 hours. The company has eight feed plants and also India’s largest soyabean processing unit with a daily 2,000- tonnes crushing capacity at Badnawar (Madhya Pradesh). It supplies de-oiled cake, the residual meal after oil extraction and the main protein ingredient in poultry feed.

The hatcheries artificially incubate the eggs laid by hens at a parent farm that has both female and male birds. These fertile eggs are put inside “setter” machines for 18.5 days at the right temperature and humidity (to mimic the natural environment provided by broody hens for the embryos inside to develop).

From there, they are transferred to the “hatcher” machines, where the chicks come out after 2.5 days.

The IB hatchery machines are all imported from European companies – Petersime (Belgium), HatchTech and Royal Pas Reform (both Netherlands). The vaccine injection, into the eggs (not birds) after the setting stage before going to the hatcher, is done by a separate ‘In-Ovo’ machine.

Backward and forward integration

The likes of Suguna, IB/ABIS and VH not only have parent farms (where the female chicks are reared for 24-25 weeks and then mated/inseminated for laying eggs till 64-68 weeks) and broiler hatcheries (where the eggs turn into DOCs). They even have the grandparent (GP) farms with male and female birds, which lay the eggs producing the parent stock.

IB Group has two GP rearing farms-cum-hatcheries at Shivpuri and Kariyagondi in Rajnandgaon district. These, in turn, obtain their GP chicks from Aviagen, the world market leader in broiler genetics. The Huntsville (US)-based company has a great-grandparent (GGP) farm and hatchery at Udumalpet (Tamil Nadu) that produces the GP stock chicks of its ‘Ross 308 AP’ broiler breed. The pure lines or pedigree stock chicks for growing the GGPs and hatching their eggs at this facility are imported by Aviagen India from the US.

The broiler chickens produced and sold in India are largely of foreign pedigree stock like Ross, Hubbard and Cobb. The Ross and Hubbard lines are owned by Aviagen, while the VH Group has a joint venture with Cobb-Vantress, also a US poultry genetics company, for breeding broilers “suited to Indian agro-climatic and management conditions”. Only Suguna Foods has developed its own ‘Sunbro’ pure line broiler breed.

The Indian broiler industry is highly “backward integrated” – more than dairy – but isn’t as “forward integrated” as the latter. Dairies sell branded pouch milk, curd, ghee, butter, cheese and ice-cream, whereas broiler chickens are predominantly wholesaled and even retailed as live birds in the “wet market” or roadside shops.

“Forward integration is the next step. We need to move to branded sales of dressed, chilled and packed chickens, apart from ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat meat,” said Zoya Afreen Alam, director of ABIS Exports.

That calls for a special effort at inducing consumer behavior change and may take time – like it did with fresh pouched milk and curd.

Amid Hindenburg probe calls, look at JPCs on financial allegations

Joint committees are set up by a motion passed in one House and agreed to by the other. The details of membership and subjects relating to a particular JPC are decided by Parliament.

Written by Vikas Pathak

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 20:23 IST

The opposition has demanded a JPC to probe the Hindenburg allegations into Madhabi Puri Buch, Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). (File photo)

The Opposition has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the Hindenburg Research allegations against Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. The BJP has rejected the demand.

Investigative JPC

A JPC is an ad hoc body comprising members from both Houses of Parliament, roughly in proportion to party strengths in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The representation of Lok Sabha is double that of Rajya Sabha. A JPC, therefore, acts as a mini Parliament to carry out detailed scrutiny of a specific matter within a specific time frame.

Joint committees are set up by a motion passed in one House and agreed to by the other. The details of membership and subjects relating to a particular JPC are decided by Parliament.

A JPC can look into documents and examine officials of any ministry or institution concerned. If one or more members disagree with the majority in a JPC, they can submit notes of dissent.

It is up to the government to take action on the recommendations of the committee. If it so wishes, the government may launch investigations on the basis of a JPC report. But it must, in any case, report on the follow-up action taken on the committee’s recommendations.

Based on the government’s reply, the committee submits an ‘Action Taken Report’ in Parliament. The Action Taken Report can be discussed in Parliament, and the Opposition can ask questions of the government.

For the opposition, a JPC matters because it can then get access to all details around an alleged scam, and can also ensure that the issue stays in news. This can bring significant political pressure on the government — a reason why all governments resist demands for an investigative JPC.

Financial investigations

So far, only three JPCs have been constituted to investigate alleged financial crimes — on the 2G spectrum scam in 2013, on the Ketan Parekh share market scam in 2001, and on the securities and banking deals relating to Harshad Mehta in 1992.

The JPC investigation into the Bofors scam was significant, too. A JPC formed in 2013 to investigate the VVIP AgustaWestland chopper scam and the role of alleged middlemen in the transaction did not take off after the BJP refused to participate.

2G SPECTRUM (2013): The JPC report absolved Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of wrongdoing, saying he was misled about the procedure to be followed by the Department of Telecommunications on issuance of Unified Access Services licenses.

It said that the assurance on maintaining full transparency in following established rules and procedures of the Department, given by Minister of Communications and Information Technology A Raja in all his correspondence with the Prime Minister, had been belied.

The BJP and several other opposition parties rejected the report, calling it an attempt to cover up the scam. The BJP described it as the most shameful scam in India’s history.

The JPC disagreed with the conclusion on revenue loss reached by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), saying the “very move for calculation of any loss on account of allocation of licence and spectrum is ill-conceived”.

It concluded that the consistent stand taken by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for non-revision of licence fee and not favouring auction of spectrum was in conformity with the policy prescriptions of New Telecom Policy 99 and the 10th Five-year Plan document that treated telecom as an infrastructure sector for the decade commencing 2002.

SHARE MARKET SCAM (2001): Heavy exposure to the stock markets led to a run on the deposits of Ahmedabad-based Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank (MMCB). The exposure was due to Ketan Parekh, a stock broker who was also a director of MMCB. It was alleged that at his behest, the bank issued pay orders without the backing of funds. Parekh was accused of using this money to rig share prices of 10 Indian companies between 1995 and 2001.

The scandal was revealed after MCCB failed to honour the pay orders it had issued. A JPC was formed in 2001, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, and it submitted its report after 105 sittings in December 2002.

The report recommended sweeping changes in stock market regulations. However, its recommendations were not fully implemented. Parekh was convicted for a year in 2008 and for two years in March 2014.

SECURITIES & BANKING TRANSACTIONS (1992): Allegations that “Big Bull” Harshad Mehta, who had become a household name, had diverted funds from the public sector Maruti Udyog Limited to his own accounts, leading to a 570-point fall in the Sensex, set off a major political storm, and led to the formation of this JPC during the tenure of Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.

The CBI filed 72 sets of charges relating to criminal offences, and in October 1997, a special court set up to examine the securities scandal-related cases approved prosecution on 34 charges brought by the agency. There were also about 600 civil cases related to the matter.

There were four convictions, and Mehta himself was sentenced in September 1999 on charges of fraud relating to Maruti Udyog Limited. However, the JPC’s recommendations were not fully implemented.

Vikas Pathak

Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More

Ex-ISI chief who went to Kabul after Taliban takeover, arrested: reasons and context

Faiz Hameed is accused of corruption while in service, and of engaging in questionable activities after retirement. This makes him the third senior officer to face arrest under the current leadership in Pakistan.

Written by Man Aman Singh Chhina

Chandigarh | Updated: August 14, 2024 11:31 IST

Afghan nationals paint over a picture of Pakistan's ISI Chief, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, during a protest against Pakistan near a police station in New Delhi in 2021. (REUTERS/File Photo)

The Pakistan Army has begun court martial proceedings against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (retd), who was until recently Director General of the Inter Service Intelligence (ISI).

The Army announced Lt Gen Hameed’s arrest on Monday (August 12). He is accused of corruption while in service, and of engaging in questionable activities after retirement.

The general, who was Pakistan’s top spymaster from June 2019 to November 2021, was considered close to the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and was in the running to succeed Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as Pakistan Army Chief.

Hameed resigned in November 2022, soon after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed (then) Lt Gen Asim Munir to the top post.

A couple of weeks after the last American soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took power in August 2021, Hameed, who was then ISI chief, visited Kabul on the invitation of the country’s new rulers. He was seen along with other Pakistani officials, having tea in a hotel.

What are the allegations against Lt Gen Hameed?

The Field General Court Martial (FGCM) against the retired general has been ordered following adverse observations made by the Supreme Court of Pakistan about nine months ago.

On November 14, 2023, the court, which was hearing a petition filed by the owner of a real estate company, said in a written order that the allegations made by the petitioner against Hameed were “of an extremely serious nature, and if true, undoubtedly would undermine the reputation of the federal government, the armed forces, ISI and Pakistan Rangers”.

“Therefore”, the three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa said, “they cannot be left unattended”, according to a report published by Dawn at the time.

The petitioner, one Moeez Ahmed Khan, the owner of Top City housing scheme, a private housing society in the Chowki Hameedan area of Islamabad, had accused Hameed and his associates of extortion.

It was alleged that in May 2017, when Hameed was a senior officer in the ISI, officials of the spy agency and personnel of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers raided the offices of Top City and Moeez’s home and took away gold and diamond jewellery after falsely accusing him of terrorism.

The petitioner said that he was subsequently forced to “pay Rs 4 crore in cash” and “sponsor a private TV network for a few months” in a deal brokered by Hameed’s brother, Sardar Najaf. Two Brigadiers of the ISI were named in the petition for having allegedly coerced Moeez.

What action has been taken against Hameed, and where is he now?

In April 2024, a Court of Inquiry headed by a Major General of the Pakistan Army was convened against Lt Gen Hameed. The Summary of Evidence has culminated in the court martial.

In a press release, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said: “Complying with the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan, a detailed court of inquiry was undertaken by Pakistan Army, to ascertain correctness of complaints in Top City case made against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd)…

“Consequently, appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd), under provisions of Pakistan Army Act.”

The retired general has been put under arrest. However, unlike civilians, he has not been put in jail. Hameed has been housed in a guest room of an Army officers’ mess in Rawalpindi, with an Army officer and some troops deputed to guard him.

In what positions did Hameed serve during his military career?

Hameed was commissioned in the Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan Army in 1987, and he is a course-mate of Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Hameed served in 56th battalion of the Baloch Regiment, and on promotion to the rank of Major General, commanded the 16 Infantry Division in Pano Aqil in Southern Sindh. Subsequently, he was posted to ISI as DG Counter Intelligence.

Hameed came into the limelight during the November 2017 dharna by the far right Barelvi Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). Hameed was accused of having engineered the three-week sit-in at the Faizabad interchange that paralysed the Pakistani capital and triggered violence at several places in the country. The general was subsequently cleared of the accusations.

On promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General, Hameed was appointed as Adjutant General in General Headquarters of Pakistan Army in June 2019. Three months later, he was appointed DG ISI, replacing Gen Asim Munir, the current Army Chief. Imran was Prime Minister at the time, having won the July 2018 election with the backing of the Army.

Hameed was considered close to then Army Chief Gen Bajwa. However, Bajwa removed him as DG ISI in October 2021, apparently after differences between them grew, and sent him as GOC 11 Corps Peshawar. Imran, who has acknowledged that he would have liked Hameed to stay on as ISI chief, opposed the transfer, but eventually gave in.

In August 2022, Hameed was again removed from his post and transferred as GOC 31 Corps in Gujranwala. Hameed remained there until he retired.

Gen Bajwa himself is in the crosshairs of the current military establishment. There is some talk in Pakistan that Hameed is being punished for refusing to testify against Imran. Some commentators have said that in Pakistan’s topsy-turvy politics, Hameed has an eye on the possibility of Imran’s fortunes changing for the better.

How often has Pakistan’s Army acted against its senior officers, serving or retired?

Hameed is the third senior officer to have run foul of Gen Munir.

In April 2024, Lt Gen Ayman Bilal Safdar, the GOC 1 Corps stationed at Mangla in Punjab, was forced to resign after the ISI recorded some critical comments he made about the Army Chief during a visit to Saudi Arabia. An Artillery officer, Lt Gen Safdar could have had a shot at the office of Army Chief in 2025 if Gen Munir retires at the end of his three-year term.

Before that, in May 2023, Lt Gen Salman Fayyaz Ghani, then GOC 4 Corps at Lahore, was sacked after Flag Staff House, the GOC’s official residence, was vandalised by workers of Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party.

Dawn reported that Pakistani military courts have convicted a three-star and a two-star general for espionage and mutiny in 2019 and 1995 respectively. Several other military officers were also indicted in the latter case. In a number of other cases, instead of court-martialling general officers, the military removed them after disciplinary proceedings, Dawn said.

Trump-Musk interview on X reportedly hit by DDoS attack: What it means

Elon Musk cited a “massive DDoS attack” for the technical glitches during his recent audio interview with Donald Trump on X. We explain how such attacks work.

By: Explained Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 11:31 IST

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack simply means that a website or any other online service cannot be accessed because it has been the target of attacks from a malicious actor. (Via Canva)

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk hosted former US President and Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump on his social media platform X on Monday (August 12) for a live audio interview. However, their conversation started after a 40-minute delay and witnessed several glitches, due to what appeared to be a “massive DDoS attack on X”, Musk said in a post.

What happens in such attacks? We explain.

What is a DDoS attack?

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack simply means that a website or any other online service cannot be accessed because it has been the target of attacks from a malicious actor.  According to the US government’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, this targeting is done by directing a large number of users against a particular online server at the same time to “flood” it.

Bots can also be used to overwhelm the network, resulting in slow loading times or a total pause in internet services.

Computers connect to the Internet and one another through unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses assigned to each device. The data they exchange is divided into smaller chunks, called “packets”. The tech company IBM’s website notes, “By using up a resource’s available bandwidth, DDoS attacks prevent these resources from responding to legitimate connection requests and packets.”

In the case of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, multiple sources work against one target. This makes the culprit harder to locate.

How do DoS and DDoS attacks work?

There are different ways of carrying out DOS attacks. Botnets, which are networks of compromised devices, can be deployed by potential attackers.

In a “Smurf Attack”, the attacker sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) broadcast packets to several hosts. The ICMP can be normally used to communicate data transmission errors to systems, but in this case, attackers send it maliciously.

While communicating, attackers use a spoofed source IP address which actually belongs to the target machine. As the target machines respond, they end up flooding their own servers, resulting in a DDoS attack.

Then there is an “SYN flood”, which occurs when an attacker sends a request to connect to the target server but does not complete the connection. Normally, the request source asks for a connection, and then the target accepts by sending an acknowledgement. Finally, the request source finalises the connection.

In this case, the attacker sends a request and receives an acknowledgement, but does not complete the connection. Multiple, targeted incomplete connections again result in a load for the server, making it difficult to complete legitimate connections smoothly.

What are the signs of a DoS attack and how can it be dealt with?

Slowing internet speed and inability to access an online service are signs of a DoS attack. However, firewalls and online security systems are the best sources for verifying this because internet issues can also be the result of other factors.

For instance, back in May 2023, Elon Musk hosted Florida Governor and then Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Spaces, the same audio platform on X where he hosted Trump. That interview also began after a delay of 30 minutes. Musk then blamed the high volume of listeners — around 4,20,000 — for the system being strained. This time, around one million people tuned in.

Anti-virus software can help detect unusual traffic, alert users and thwart DDoS attacks.

How significant can DoS attacks be?

DoS attacks can cause major disruption, lasting for anywhere between a few hours to a few days. In 2016, major websites like Spotify, Twitter and Amazon were unavailable for many hours because of a DDoS attack.

Before the Paris Olympics, France’s state services were targeted in a major cyberattack. “Several hacker groups claimed responsibility for the attacks on Telegram, a messaging app, including one calling itself Anonymous Sudan which said it had launched a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on French government network infrastructure”, according to an AFP report.

What is Bangladesh’s St Martin’s Island, under spotlight after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation?

The island is located in the northeastern region of the Bay of Bengal, close to the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is nine kilometres away from the southern tip of Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula.

By: Explained Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 11:31 IST

The 7.3 km long island is mostly flat and sits at an elevation of 3.6 metres above the mean sea level. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, on Sunday (August 11) said that a recent “resignation” statement, allegedly published by a newspaper, attributed to her mother was “completely false and fabricated”. According to the alleged statement, Hasina said she could have continued to remain in power if she had given Bangladesh’s “St Martin’s Island and Bay of Bengal to America”.

The statement seems to be taken from a 2023 speech by Hasina in which she claimed that “there will be no problem to hold on to power if Saint Martin’s Island is leased out, but she won’t do that,” according to a report by Prothom Alo. She, however, did not take the name of any country.

In her speech, the former prime minister also accused the opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), of wanting to sell the island. She said, “How did the BNP come to power in 2001? They came to power by pledging to sell gas. Now do they want to sell the country or come to power by pledging to sell St Martin’s island?”

Here is a look at St Martin’s Island and its history.

Where is St Martin’s Island located?

The island is located in the northeastern region of the Bay of Bengal, close to the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is nine kilometres away from the southern tip of Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula.

The 7.3 km long island is mostly flat and sits at an elevation of 3.6 metres above the mean sea level. It is Bangladesh’s only coral island — there are reefs from 10-15 km to the west-northwest — and is also a breeding ground for sea turtles.

The island has a permanent population of about 10,000 people. As it is a prominent tourist attraction, an average of 10,000 tourists stay there every day, according to a report published by The Daily Sun.

What is the history of the island?

The island was once part of the Teknaf peninsula (around 5,000 years ago) but gradually got submerged into the sea. Around 450 years ago, the southern suburbs of present-day St Martin’s Island resurfaced — the northern and rest of the parts of the island rose above sea level in the following 100 years, according to The Daily Sun report.

The Arab merchants were among the first ones to settle on the island. They began to arrive there in the 18th Century. The merchants initially named the island “Jazira” (meaning “the island” or “the peninsula”) and later changed it to “Narikel Jinjira” or “Coconut Island”.

In 1900, British India annexed the island during a land survey. By then, some fishermen had settled on the island — they were either Bengali or from the Rakhine community (who were based in present-day Myanmar). During the British occupation, the island came to be known as St Martin’s Island, named after then Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Martin, according to some reports.

After the partition of British India in 1947, it became part of Pakistan and subsequently, a part of independent Bangladesh after the 1971 Liberation War.

Why the withdrawal of the draft Broadcast Bill raises more questions than it answers

The new draft proposed to regulate independent news content creators on social media platforms as OTT broadcasters, raising concerns about widespread government control on online content

Written by Soumyarendra Barik

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 11:31 IST

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw during a cabinet briefing in New Delhi on 19.06.2024 (Express photo by Anil Sharma)

After facing intense criticism from a wide range of stakeholders, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting withdrew a fresh draft of the Broadcast Bill which it had privately circulated among a handful of industry stakeholders. The draft had triggered controversy and criticism over fears that the government was trying to exert greater control over online content, by trying to regulate independent creators on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and X.

On Monday, stakeholders received calls from the government asking them to return copies of the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, which was shared with them in July.

The Indian Express has learnt that a major difference of opinion emerged within the bureaucracy of the ministry on whether the Bill should apply to non-news online content creators. As per the draft Bill, such creators would have fallen under the category of OTT broadcasters. This is one of the reasons why the government wants to rework the contours of the Bill, said sources.

The MIB did not respond to requests for a comment on the issue. But, in a statement posted on X on Monday night, the ministry referred to an earlier draft Bill placed in public domain in November last year, and said it “is holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders” and is offering them “further additional time” till October 15 to issue their comments. “A fresh draft will be published after detailed consultations,” it said.

The ministry’s statement, however, made no mention of the 2024 draft – which has led to more questions among stakeholders.

The unanswered questions

The statement has confused stakeholders, especially those who were not part of the group with which the government shared the 2024 version of the draft Bill. “Are we supposed to send our comments on the November 2023 version of the now withdrawn draft, because a copy was never formally shared with us,” said a person from the industry, requesting anonymity.

The second key question is around the secretive nature of the consultations that the government has engaged in since July this year. After it significantly altered and expanded the focus of the 2023 Bill (a draft of which was released publicly) to prepare the 2024 version, it has not held wide consultations on it. It consulted a handful of stakeholders including some industry bodies, telecom companies and tech companies. The 2024 version of the Bill was also only shared with these entities who were discouraged from sharing it further as they were given watermarked versions of the Bill with a code unique to each of them to prevent leaks.

Now, the government’s statement suggests that it is ignoring the privately circulated draft and is instead asking people to send comments to the one released in 2023. “But knowing that the government’s intention changed significantly in the latest version, are people supposed to send in their comments with that in mind? It also begs the question, if a provision is not included in the 2023 version but was present in the 2024 version, how can we make comments specific to that,” a second industry executive said.

Why the government wants to regulate independent news creators

It is understood that some of the big Indian creators of current affairs and news content on YouTube are on the government’s radar. To be sure, as per the current wording under the Bill, even foreign creators may fall under its ambit, although enforcing Indian content regulations on them could be challenging.

A senior government official said one key reason behind the significant expansion of scope in the current draft Bill compared to the version which was released for public consultation in November 2023 has been the “role a number of independent content creators played in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls”.

“There were a number of instances where creators made videos on current affairs which made some sensational claims about the government and its senior leaders in the run up to the elections. That’s when it was decided that there has to be an accountability measure for these creators as well, to create a level-playing field between mainstream press and independent creators,” the official said.

The expanded remit of the now withdrawn broadcast Bill

The Bill, which sought to replace the 1995 Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, deals with television broadcasting. In November last year, the ministry had invited comments on a draft Bill that consolidated the legal framework for the broadcasting sector and extended it to OTT content and digital news and current affairs as well. However, the new draft Bill, shared privately with some stakeholders last month, significantly altered the focus of the 2023 draft Bill.

The new draft Bill came under intense criticism after it expanded its remit from OTT content and digital news to include social media accounts and online video creators, sought to define a “digital news broadcaster” in sweeping terms to include independent content creators, and proposed prior registration with the government.

There was pushback from independent content creators publicly, and big tech companies privately, over fears of government overreach.

The latest draft sought to define “digital news broadcasters” to include “publisher of news and current affairs content”, which means any person who broadcasts news and current affairs programmes through an online paper, news portal, website, social media intermediary, or other similar medium as part of a systematic business, professional or commercial activity but excluding replica e-papers.

This definition could include users on YouTube, Instagram, and even X, who generate advertising revenue through paid subscriptions or monetise their social media accounts through affiliate activities.

It allowed the government to specify a threshold for the number of subscribers or viewers for OTT broadcasters, who would then have to intimate it of their existence and operations and also adhere to a programme code and an advertisement code.

These online content creators would have to set up a content evaluation committee (CEC), and “strive to make” the committee diverse by including individuals with knowledge of different social groups, women, child welfare, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities. The names of people in their CEC would have to be shared with the government.

Creators would be allowed to only run programmes which are certified by the CEC. However, such certification would not be required for programmes that are already certified for public viewing in India by a statutory body, educational programmes, news and current affairs programmes, live events, animation for children, and other programmes that the government may designate.

Soumyarendra Barik

Soumyarendra Barik is Special Correspondent with The Indian Express and reports on the intersection of technology, policy and society. With over five years of newsroom experience, he has reported on issues of gig workers’ rights, privacy, India’s prevalent digital divide and a range of other policy interventions that impact big tech companies. He once also tailed a food delivery worker for over 12 hours to quantify the amount of money they make, and the pain they go through while doing so. In his free time, he likes to nerd about watches, Formula 1 and football. ... Read More

How Tungabhadra dam gate was swept away, why farmers are fearful

Cultivators with fields upstream are afraid that draining of the reservoir to carry out repairs will impact irrigation; those downstream have the same fear, apart from apprehensions of flooding due to increased outflows from the dam.

Written by Akram M

Bengaluru | Updated: August 14, 2024 11:33 IST

The 33-gate dam on the Tungabhadra in Karnataka was completed in 1953. (PTI Photo)

A flood alert has been sounded downstream of the Tungabhadra dam in Karnataka’s Koppal district after one of the 33 crest gates of the massive stone masonry dam across the Tungabhadra river was washed away late on Saturday evening (August 10).

Repairs can be carried out only after two-thirds of the dam is emptied, the Tungabhadra Board, which manages the project, said. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Water Resources Minister, visited the dam on Sunday.

How the gate broke

The dam has 33 ‘vertical lift’ type gates that move on rollers embedded in the masonry. The gates are operated from an overhead bridge.

“On 10.08.2024, 10 spillway gates were operated, i.e. from gate No. 12 to 21 to height of 1.5 feet and the discharge through the spillway gate was 22,890 Cusecs,” the Tungabhadra Board said in a statement on Sunday. Spillways or overflow channels are structures used for the controlled release of water from a reservoir.

“During the said incident, i.e., at 10.50 pm, the spillway gate No. 19 was washed away from the groove of spillway,” the statement said.

The crest (or spillway) gate failed after a link in the chain used to operate it broke. The force of the water in the dam swept the 60-foot-by-20-foot gate, weighing around 20 tonnes, some 500 ft away, J Purushottham, president of the Tungabhadra Farmers’Association, said.

Local sources said welding was carried out on the chain links of the spillway gates to strengthen them 3-4 years ago. Purushottham said that considering the chain links were old, Karnataka had suggested that the links be replaced with steel cables to operate the crest gates. “Such a system is in place in the Alamatti dam in Bagalkot district,” he said.

Water in reservoir

On August 10, the reservoir level was at its maximum 1,633 ft, and the dam was full to its capacity, about 105.8 thousand million cubic (TMC) ft, according to Tungabhadra Board data. The inflow was 40,925 cusecs (cubic ft per second), and outflow was 28,133 cusecs.

According to the Tungabhadra Board statement issued by its Secretary O R K Reddy, following early inflows into the dam, water had been released through three gates on July 22 and, as inflows increased subsequently, around 1.65 lakh cusecs was released on August 1.

On Monday, the water level was almost 1,631 ft, and the reservoir capacity was 97.75 TMC ft, Board data show.

Accumulated silt over the years now fills around 30 % of the original capacity of the dam. The state government has proposed to build a balancing reservoir to address this problem.

River and the dam

The Tungabhadra, which is formed at the confluence near Shimoga of two streams, Tunga and Bhadra, that rise in the Western Ghats, flows into the Krishna at Sangamaleshwaram in Andhra Pradesh. The river, which forms part of the boundary between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, has a total catchment area of almost 70,000 sq km.

Tungabhadra Dam.

The Tungabhadra reservoir sprawls over an area of 378 sq km primarily in Karnataka’s Vijayanagar district. It is one of the major reservoirs in South India that supplies water for irrigation and industrial use, as well as drinking water to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The dam was first conceived of in 1860 to mitigate the impact of recurrent famine in Rayalaseema. Construction was begun by the erstwhile governments of Hyderabad and Madras in 1945, and the project was completed in 1953.

The Tungabhadra Board was established by a presidential order in 1953. The Board currently has a chairman appointed by the Union government, and four members, representing the Union government and the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.

Repairs and fears

The crest gate that has been swept away is located in the middle of the dam, and repairs can begin only after 60-65% of the water in the reservoir has been discharged.

The repair will be carried out as soon as possible with consultation with experts, the Tungabhadra Board has said. “Action is being taken to fabricate new stop lock gate… The…work will be completed within a week,” the Board said.

Cultivators with fields upstream are afraid that draining of the reservoir to carry out repairs will impact irrigation; those downstream have the same fear, apart from apprehensions of flooding due to increased outflows from the dam. The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre has issued a flood alert to downstream areas.

Heavy rainfall could make the situation worse; however, no heavy rain is forecast in the region in the coming days.

Last year, due to a severe drought in the state, farmers either did not get the yield they hoped for, or avoided sowing altogether. Shivakumar said a projected inflow of around 50-60 TMC ft in September and October would help farmers in the region cultivate at least one crop this year.

All you need to know about the Hindenburg-Adani-Buch saga

Hindenburg alleged on Saturday that Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had stakes in offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal.

Written by Hitesh Vyas , George Mathew

Mumbai | Updated: August 14, 2024 11:33 IST

Hindenburg alleged on Saturday that Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had stakes in offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal. (File photos)

A year and a half after its January 2023 report on the Adani Group, US-based short seller Hindenburg Research has levelled allegations against the chairperson of India’s capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Hindenburg alleged on Saturday that Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had stakes in offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal.

The Buchs have denied the allegation and Sebi has said that it has adequate internal mechanisms for addressing issues relating to conflict of interest, including a disclosure framework and provisions for recusal.

Key players in Adani-Hindenburg-Sebi story.

How and when did this saga begin?

In a 106-page report released on January 25, 2023, Hindenburg accused Gautam Adani’s Adani Group of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades”.

The report was published ahead of the Rs 20,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO) of Adani Enterprises Ltd. Shares of Adani companies tanked, and the group subsequently called off the FPO, which was fully subscribed.

Adani denied the allegations. Most Adani shares have now recovered.

What happened after that?

On March 2, 2023, the Supreme Court set up a six-member expert committee to investigate whether there was regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged contravention of laws by the Adani Group or other companies.

Separately, the court asked Sebi, which was already looking at allegations against Adani companies, to specifically investigate if there was a violation of the minimum public shareholding norms in public limited companies, a failure to disclose transactions with related parties, or any manipulation of stock prices.

In May 2023, the expert committee said that the markets regulator “had drawn a blank” in its investigation into alleged violations in money flows from offshore entities into Adani companies.

In November 2023, the court said it had no reason to discredit Sebi, and that it did not have to treat the contents of the Hindenburg report as the “true state of affairs”.

On January 3, 2024, the court endorsed Sebi’s investigation, and refused to transfer the case to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or the CBI. It said Sebi had completed the probe in 20 out of 22 matters, and asked it to finish the job within three months. Sebi completed its probe into one more case in March, and has said the final investigation is close to completion.

What has Sebi been doing in this period?

On July 1, 2024, Hindenburg announced that it had received a show cause notice from Sebi for short selling of Adani Enterprises Ltd stock immediately before and after the release of its January 2023 report. The notice named Hindenburg Research, its founder Nathan Anderson, partner-investor Mark Kingdon, and three entities owned or controlled by Kingdon: Kingdon Capital Management LLC, M Kingdon Offshore Master Fund LP, and K India Opportunities Fund (KIOF) – Class F.

Hindenburg also said Sebi’s notice had “conspicuously failed to name…Kotak Bank, one of India’s largest banks and brokerage firms…, which created and oversaw the offshore fund structure used by our investor partner (Kingdon) to bet against Adani”.

A day later, Kotak Mahindra International Limited (KMIL) and KIOF stated that Hindenburg was never their client, nor had it ever been an investor in the Fund. The Fund was not aware that Hindenburg was a partner of any of its investors, it said.

What is Hindenburg’s new allegation?

Hindenburg has now alleged that “it suspects Sebi’s unwillingness to take meaningful action against suspect offshore shareholders in the Adani Group may stem from Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch’s complicity in using the exact same funds used by Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani”.

Quoting “whistleblower documents”, Hindenburg alleged, “Sebi’s Chairperson had stake in obscure offshore entities used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.” It said Sebi was yet to take any action against other suspect Adani shareholders operated by wealth management firm India Infoline — EM Resurgent Fund and Emerging India Focus Funds.

Hindenburg alleged that Buch had ensured that accounts with ties to Adani “be registered solely in the name of Dhaval Buch”, her husband, two weeks before her appointment as Sebi Whole Time Member, and had subsequently redeemed the funds “through her husband’s name”.

“Despite disclaiming control, a private email she sent a year into her Sebi term (in 2018) shows she redeemed stakes in the funds through her husband’s name…,” Hindenburg has alleged.

How has the Sebi chairperson responded to the allegations?

Madhabi Puri Buch and Dhaval Buch have said their investment in the offshore funds mentioned by Hindenburg were made in 2015 when they were “private citizens” living in Singapore. The investment was made “almost 2 years before Madhabi joined Sebi…as a Whole Time Member”, they have said.

“The decision to invest in this fund was because the Chief Investment Officer, Anil Ahuja, is Dhaval’s childhood friend from school and IIT Delhi and, being an ex-employee of Citibank, JP Morgan and 3i Group plc, had many decades of a strong investing career. The fact that these were the drivers of the investment decision is borne out by the fact that when, in 2018, Ahuja left his position as CIO of the fund, we redeemed the investment in that fund,” the Buchs have said.

From 2011 to March 2017, Madhabi lived and worked from Singapore, initially as an employee of a private equity firm and subsequently as a consultant. The two consulting companies she set up, one each in India and Singapore, became dormant on her appointment at Sebi. These companies (and her shareholding in them) were explicitly part of her disclosures to Sebi, they have said.

What position has Sebi taken?

On Sunday, the regulator defended Buch. She has from time to time made relevant disclosures required in terms of holdings of securities and their transfers, Sebi said. “Chairperson has also recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest,” it said.

“…More than 100 communications have been made seeking assistance from domestic/ foreign regulators and external agencies. Also, more than 300 documents…have been examined” during the probe into the Hindenburg matter, Sebi said. It advised investors to remain calm and exercise due diligence.

Business

- India seeking review of select provisions in UAE deal

- SBI raises MCLR by 10 bps across tenors

- Mining tax dues: Ruling to have large financial impact on mining cos; ‘pass-on of costs may be inflationary’

- RBI okays Tata Capital conversion to NBFC-ICC

- Textile industry worried over Bangladesh investment: Official

- India-Russia in talks to work out exchange rate to ease trade: Official

- Merchandise exports drop 1.5% in July; trade deficit widens 23% to $23.5 billion

- Black Box reports 55% rise in net profit in Q1

- Wholesale inflation declines to 2.04% in July, ending 4-month rise

- ‘Do not permit creation of shell companies, not a tax haven’: Mauritius regulator on Hindenburg report

- GST Council to meet on September 9, rate rationalisation talks likely to be on table

- India’s weight in MSCI equity index rises; ‘may fetch around $3-bn inflows’

- Indian Express Freedom Sale: Check out our discounted UPSC, digital and ePaper subscription plans, get yours today

India seeking review of select provisions in UAE deal

As Silver imports continued to surge from the UAE amid a suspected breach in rules of origin norms, India is seeking a review of certain provisions in the India-UAE trade deal signed in 2022, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Wednesday. Trade data released on Wednesday also showed that silver imports, largely coming from the […]

Written by Ravi Dutta Mishra

New Delhi | August 15, 2024 04:38 IST

Seeking an urgent review of the pact, think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has stated that the India-UAE CEPA allows unlimited imports of gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds from the UAE into India with zero tariffs in the coming years.

As Silver imports continued to surge from the UAE amid a suspected breach in rules of origin norms, India is seeking a review of certain provisions in the India-UAE trade deal signed in 2022, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Wednesday.

Trade data released on Wednesday also showed that silver imports, largely coming from the UAE, surged 439 per cent to $165.74 million in July compared to $30.74 million during the comparable period last year. The UAE is the third largest trading partner of India with $83.65 billion bilateral trade in 2023-24.

“As regards Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) , there are two things – one is the value addition norms and the second is reduction (of customs duties). So we are in discussion with them and there are various issues which are discussed under the CEPA review. So, I think we are seeking a review with them and once we get it, then we will look at all the issues holistically,” Barthwal said in response to a question on rising silver imports.

“When you ( a country) give a concessional rate (of duty), there is a condition of meeting rules of origin. So when we do review, we look at all the aspects of it…whether the rules of origin are met or not and what is the future course of action that we will do,” Barthwal said.

Seeking an urgent review of the pact, think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has stated that the India-UAE CEPA allows unlimited imports of gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds from the UAE into India with zero tariffs in the coming years.

This will lead to significant annual revenue losses, move import business from banks to a few private traders, and replace top suppliers with Dubai-based firms, the GTRI report has said.

It highlighted that currently, gold can be imported from Dubai at 5 per cent duty, but this will drop to zero in three years if the alloy contains 2 per cent platinum. GTRI has also claimed that many imports do not meet Rules of Origin conditions and, hence, do not qualify for concessions.

SBI raises MCLR by 10 bps across tenors

The increase in MCLR by SBI comes days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent.

By: ENS Economic Bureau

Mumbai | August 15, 2024 03:40 IST

The overnight and one-month MCLR have been increased to 8.2 per cent and 8.45 per cent respectively.

State Bank of India (SBI) raised the marginal cost of lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points (bps) across all tenors, effective today.

The increase in MCLR by SBI comes days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent.

The overnight and one-month MCLR have been increased to 8.2 per cent and 8.45 per cent respectively.

The revised rate for six month MCLR is 8.85 per cent, compared to 8.75 per cent earlier.

The bank will charge an MCLR of 8.95 per cent on one-year loans. The revised MCLRs on loans with two-year and three-year tenors are 9.05 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively.

This is the third consecutive month when the country’s largest lender has hiked its MCLR. It has increased MCLR by up to 30 basis points (bps) in some of the tenors since June this year. A basis point is one hundredth of one percentage point.

Mining tax dues: Ruling to have large financial impact on mining cos; ‘pass-on of costs may be inflationary’

The nine-judge SC bench on Wednesday said the levy of interest and penalty on demands made for the period before July 25, 2024 shall stand waived and the time for payment of tax “shall be staggered in instalments over a period of twelve years commencing from 1 April 2026”.

Written by Aggam Walia

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 07:35 IST

The ruling will lead to more costs being imposed on a primary sector like mining, which will make it “unviable”, stakeholders from the industry said at the sidelines of a mines ministry event on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court order allowing states to collect past tax dues from mining companies could potentially impose a significant financial burden on them, given that it allows levying of tax on royalty payments from April 1, 2005 onwards.

According to a senior official in the Ministry of Mines, the ruling will have a major financial implication on mining companies, especially those mining coal and iron ore. These include both private companies and public sector undertakings (PSUs) that come under the mines ministry, the official said, adding that future investments in the mining sector could also be impacted by the ruling to tax retrospectively.

The ruling will lead to more costs being imposed on a primary sector like mining, which will make it “unviable”, stakeholders from the industry said at the sidelines of a mines ministry event on Wednesday. Most metal stocks reflected this sentiment and closed in the red after the SC’s ruling. India’s largest iron ore miner NMDC Ltd fell 6.02 per cent to Rs 210.94. Coal India, the country’s largest coal producer, dropped 3.26 per cent to Rs 504.70. JSW Steel dropped 1.93 per cent to Rs 890.30, Tata Steel 1.82 per cent to Rs 146.17, and Vedanta 0.50 per cent to Rs 420.20.

Earlier, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the SC that if the verdict is applied retrospectively, the tax demand on PSUs would be between Rs 70,000 to 80,000 crore. For the entire sector, the cumulative impact could be well around Rs 2 lakh crore, according to industry estimates.

“The burden would eventually go to the common man. Whether directly or indirectly, he will be the person who will bear the burden because no industry can absorb this. For example we made a rough estimate only for the public sector undertakings. This is rough and ready, it is still the process of calculation is going on, but the approximate demand, which the only PSU’s are expecting would be somewhere in the vicinity of 70,000 to 80,000 crore,” Mehta had said on July 31.

The nine-judge SC bench on Wednesday said the levy of interest and penalty on demands made for the period before July 25, 2024 shall stand waived and the time for payment of tax “shall be staggered in instalments over a period of twelve years commencing from 1 April 2026”.

The July 25 judgment overruled the 1989 decision of a seven-judge bench in India Cement Ltd vs State of Tamil Nadu, which said royalty is tax and state legislatures lack competence to levy taxes on mineral rights because the subject matter is covered by an act of the Parliament in exercise of powers under the Union List of the Constitution. The verdict has paved the way for states to collect greater revenue from mining operations.

Now, with states empowered to tax royalty on mining production, experts said costs of primary goods, especially iron ore, may go up. “Typically, you need 1.6 to 1.8 tons of iron ore for a ton of steel. If you consider the total cost of steel production and work backwards, royalty is roughly 5 to 8 per cent of the selling price. It’s not a small cost at all,” said Rakesh Surana, a partner with Deloitte India.

“What if the costs go up? If the costs go up, margin is eaten into. If the margin is eaten into, you can either pass it on or if not, it’s obviously not good for the company. It impacts expansion plans, the ability to repay debt, etc. Even if you can pass it on, it creates an inflationary impact… there is a risk of that happening if this isn’t well calibrated,” Surana added.

After the July 25 judgment, each state can now decide the quantum of cess on mining operations, as opposed to a relatively more uniform taxation regime prior to the judgement. Surana said this may create a new dynamic of competition among states in terms of attracting mining-related investments.

Moving forward, the industry is also bracing for the revival of previously stayed GST demand cases on mining operations, as the court has now clarified that royalty payments are a contractual consideration rather than a tax.

“After April 2016, there is a liability under reverse charge mechanism with respect to services provided by the government. Therefore, royalty is something which will be considered as a mining rights service provided by the government to the mining community. Now, all the petitions which are currently pending in high courts and the demands which have been stayed in most of the cases will get revived,” said Gopal Mundhra, partner at Economic Laws Practice (ELP).

Mundhra noted that the centre has the authority to provide relief on pending GST demands after the insertion of Section 11A in CGST Act at the 53rd GST Council Meeting last month. The amendment gives the central government the powers to forgive non-collection or under-collection of GST in situations where businesses followed a common practice that led to the shortfall in tax collection.

RBI okays Tata Capital conversion to NBFC-ICC

This follows TCL's merger with Tata Cleantech Capital and Tata Capital Financial Services. The change signifies Tata Capital's transformation into an operating company, paving the way for its potential listing. Previously, it functioned as a holding company under the CIC structure.

By: ENS Economic Bureau

Mumbai | August 15, 2024 02:44 IST

TCL had earlier announced the merger of Tata Motors Finance Ltd with itself, effective April 1, expected to be completed within 9-12 months. As a result, Tata Motors will hold a 4.7 per cent stake in the merged entity.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved Tata Capital Limited’s (TCL) conversion from a non-banking finance company (NBFC)-core investment company (CIC) to an NBFC-investment credit company (ICC).

This follows TCL’s merger with Tata Cleantech Capital and Tata Capital Financial Services. The change signifies Tata Capital’s transformation into an operating company, paving the way for its potential listing. Previously, it functioned as a holding company under the CIC structure.

TCL had earlier announced the merger of Tata Motors Finance Ltd with itself, effective April 1, expected to be completed within 9-12 months. As a result, Tata Motors will hold a 4.7 per cent stake in the merged entity.

The RBI had designated Tata Capital and its parent, Tata Sons Pvt, as NBFC-upper layer, requiring them to list by September next year. While Tata Sons has eliminated its net debt, Tata Capital has consolidated its finance businesses and sought the RBI’s approval for the certification change.

TCL reported total assets of Rs 1.76 lakh crore, total income of Rs 8,630 crore, and a profit after tax of Rs 3,327 crore in FY24. The company has received the certificate of registration as an NBFC-ICC, indicating its compliance with guidelines. Tata Sons has infused Rs 6,097 crore into TCL over the last five financial years, highlighting the group’s focus on retail lending.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India is reportedly agreeable to a restructuring plan proposed by Tata Sons seeking a waiver for the mandatory listing of the holding company as it has already wiped out debts.

Textile industry worried over Bangladesh investment: Official

“The disruption happened in the first few days but the trucks have resumed moving on the Bangladesh border and the mills are also reopening,” the official said

Written by Ravi Dutta Mishra

New Delhi | August 15, 2024 02:10 IST

Several Indian textile companies are worried over their investment in Bangladesh due to the ongoing political turmoil but the garment mills in the neighbouring country have resumed operation, an official in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.

“The disruption happened in the first few days but the trucks have resumed moving on the Bangladesh border and the mills are also reopening,” the official said

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), fearing vandalism, reportedly asked all factory owners to keep their units shut until further notice.

Violence in Bangladesh has reportedly left at least 300 dead amid countrywide curfews and curbs on mobile internet.

The Indian garment and knitted fabric sector is seeing a “bit of uncertainty” amid the ongoing political developments in the neighbouring country of Bangladesh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said.

“I have held discussions on our textile garment investments in Bangladesh, many of which are from Tamil Nadu. The investments went there in good faith and they did well having gone there; exports from Bangladesh had also increased. The garment and knitted fabric sector is currently seeing a bit of uncertainty,” she said at the media briefing held after the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

India-Russia in talks to work out exchange rate to ease trade: Official

This comes as Russia has rapidly ascended to become India’s top oil supplier, but Indian exports to Russia have struggled, resulting in a $57 billion trade deficit in the bilateral trade worth $66 billion in FY24.

Written by Ravi Dutta Mishra

New Delhi | Updated: August 15, 2024 06:14 IST

An exchange rate is essential for the two countries to settle trade without using the dollar.

Aimed at increasing exports to Russia amid widening trade deficit with the country, the Reserve Bank of India is in talks with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to work out a currency exchange rate, a government official said on Wednesday.

This comes as Russia has rapidly ascended to become India’s top oil supplier, but Indian exports to Russia have struggled, resulting in a $57 billion trade deficit in the bilateral trade worth $66 billion in FY24. The gap has resulted in Moscow seeking yuan due to its rising demand for Chinese goods.

“For the resumption of the rupee trading mechanism with Russia, what is more important is to quickly work out an exchange rate. Even if it is on a weekly basis. Working at a rate which works for a week is essential. The central banks of both the countries are in talks for this,” an official said.

An exchange rate is essential for the two countries to settle trade without using the dollar. Currency challenges come due to the trade imbalance between the two countries. In contrast, Russia-China bilateral trade has crossed a record $240 billion in 2023.

“Currently there is no exchange mechanism between rouble and rupee. Now there is only cross currency reference which is happening right now. That adds a layer of additional premium so the idea is to avoid that. That will happen only when the two currencies are traded freely at the same exchange rate without referencing,” the official said.

On the issue of rupee piling with Russian traders, the official said that they are more or less exhausted as India’s exports to Russia crossed $4.5 billion last year. “Some of it has been set off against our exports, and some gold imports happened via advanced authorisation mechanism and for that also some rupee balance was utilised,” he said.

“Dynamic exchange rate could help push the trade from $4.5 billion to $45 billion. If you want your rupee vostro accounts to be actually functional a direct exchange rate is required. Normally, barring euro and dollar any other exchange mechanism is via a referencing mechanism which is either a dollar or euro,” the official said.

A push to boost trade with Russia comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Moscow visit last month. During his visit, both countries decided to eliminate non-tariff and tariff barriers in trade and to initiate negotiations for a trade deal with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Merchandise exports drop 1.5% in July; trade deficit widens 23% to $23.5 billion

Expressing the possibility of a higher trade deficit in the subsequent months due to a reduction in gold import duty, economists said that July’s widening trade deficit comes amid a rise in crude prices and indicates a possible decline in the oil discounts offered by Russia.

Written by Ravi Dutta Mishra

New Delhi | August 14, 2024 22:18 IST

Data shared by the ministry showed that the imports of petroleum and crude products jumped 21 per cent to $65.37 billion between April to July this year compared to $53.66 billion during the comparable period last year. (Express Archives)

Rising freight rates and patchy recovery in global goods demand pushed India’s merchandise exports lower by 1.47 per cent to $33.98 billion in July compared to the previous year. However, trade deficit in July jumped by a sharp 23 per cent amid a consistent rise in imports of items such as crude and gold, data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Wednesday.

While the goods exports slipped 1.47 per cent in July compared to the previous year, imports jumped 7.45 per cent to $57.48 billion compared to $53.49 billion in July last year. The trade deficit widened to $23.5 billion compared to $19 billion in July last year, the data showed.

Expressing the possibility of a higher trade deficit in the subsequent months due to a reduction in gold import duty, economists said that July’s widening trade deficit comes amid a rise in crude prices and indicates a possible decline in the oil discounts offered by Russia.

“A widening in the oil and non oil deficit, expanded the merchandise trade deficit in July 2024 relative to July 2023. The higher oil import bill reflects higher volumes and global prices, as well as a possible decline in discounts. The value of gold imports has been rather steady at around $3-3.4 billion each month in April-July 2024,” Aditi Nayar, chief economist and head of Research and Outreach, ICRA said.

Data shared by the ministry showed that the imports of petroleum and crude products jumped 21 per cent to $65.37 billion between April to July this year compared to $53.66 billion during the comparable period last year. Exports of petroleum products, however, gained marginally during the period to $36.97 billion against $35.49 billion.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said India’s exports have recorded a growth on a quarterly basis. He said that the growth rate is significant given the kind of protectionist policies are being followed by countries. “This is a very significant growth rate cumulatively,” Barthwal said. He said that the decline in goods exports in July is largely because of the slowdown on petroleum products exports and a jump in crude oil imports.

“The impact is largely due to our low exports of petroleum products and very high crude imports. Which also tells you that India is growing at more than 7 per cent rate of growth, and the world is growing at around 3 per cent rate of growth and therefore our consumption is going to grow more,” he said. Engineering Export Promotion Council of India Chairman Arun Kumar Garodia said that among the industry’s major headwinds are high sea freight rates, protectionist measures from major export partners, and weak demand in some key markets.

“The ongoing tensions in West Asia and its further escalation pose downside risks to external trade. The political unrest in neighbouring Bangladesh will also likely add to the problems,” Garodia said.

Engineering goods exports remained the top export item during the April to July quarter and engineering goods exports rose 3.6 per cent year-on-year to $9.03 billion in July 2024 from $8.72 billion in July 2023.

In cumulative terms, engineering goods exports grew 4.18 per cent year-on-year to $36.96 billion in the April-July period of 2024-25 as compared to$35.48 billion in the corresponding period last financial year.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations President Ashwani Kumar said that the marginal dip in merchandise exports by a little over 1 percent to $33.98 billion is because of the continuous international trade disruptions.

“Some of the exporters have diverted to the domestic market as profitability in exports have taken a hit with a sharp rise in international freight (both ship and air), ” Kumar said.

He added that had it not been these trade disruptions led by logistical challenges such as lack of container availability, shipping space, irregular shipping schedule and ships skipping Indian ports, the merchandise exports would have recorded yet another positive growth in exports that to double-digits during the month.

Black Box reports 55% rise in net profit in Q1

Revenue for this quarter stood Rs 1,423 crore, compared to Rs 1,571 crore in the first quarter of the previous financial year

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 20:17 IST

Revenue for this quarter stood Rs 1,423 crore, compared to Rs 1,571 crore in the first quarter of the previous financial year. (File)

Black Box Limited, an IT solutions provider, announced 55 per cent year-on-year (YoY) surge in profit after tax (PAT) reaching Rs 37 crore for the quarter that ended June 30, 2024. PAT margins improved to 2.6 per cent, an increase of 110 basis points from the previous year. Black Box also reported a 28 per cent YoY increase in EBITDA, reaching Rs 115 crore for this quarter and efforts are geared towards achieving a 9% EBITDA margin by the end of this financial year.

Revenue for this quarter stood Rs 1,423 crore as compared to Rs 1,571 crore in the first quarter of the previous financial year. Despite this, the company’s pipeline remains robust, with the order book growing to $ 475 million as of June 30, 2024.

Commenting on the results and performance, Sanjeev Verma, whole-time director, Black Box said, “Our strategic exit from low-value, non-accretive customers had a short-term impact on revenue. However, our relentless focus on productivity and margins allowed us to meet EBITDA targets and nearly achieve PAT guidance. Core operations demonstrated robust strength, with substantial growth in key areas, highlighting the resilience of our business model. We have made significant strides, investing heavily in our Go-To-Market strategy, and hiring seasoned sales and solution architects with industry-specific expertise. As we move into FY25, our focus will remain on capitalising on our strong pipeline and robust order book. With each business segment gaining momentum, we are confident in our ability to deliver enhanced performance and meet our revenue and profitability guidance.”

Deepak Kumar Bansal, executive director and global chief financial officer of Black Box, commented, “The growth in topline was affected due to delays in decision-making, leading to delayed project execution coupled with muted demand for our product business from some federal partners during the quarter. However, we continue to deliver on EBITDA and profitability over the last few quarters with strong focus on productivity and deal margins, as evidenced by a 28% YoY growth in EBITDA and 55% YoY increase in our profit after tax. We are optimistic that this trend will continue, enhancing both margins and overall profitability. Further, we secured Rs 410 crores in funding to propel growth across key focus areas and to drive expansion in the digital infrastructure sector.”

Wholesale inflation declines to 2.04% in July, ending 4-month rise

The wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rate was 3.36% in June, 2.61% in May, and -4.18% in July 2023.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | August 14, 2024 12:40 IST

This decline in WPI inflation aligns with the retail inflation data for July. (Express Photo)

After rising for four consecutive months, wholesale inflation declined to 2.04% in July, according to the latest government data released on Wednesday.

The wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rate was 3.36% in June, 2.61% in May, and -4.18% in July 2023.

“The annual WPI inflation rate was 2.04% in July 2024, down from 3.36% in June 2024,” the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) reported on X that

This decline in WPI inflation aligns with the retail inflation data for July. Retail inflation dropped to a 59-month low of 3.54% in July, primarily due to a high base effect, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday.

WPI measures changes in the prices of goods sold and traded in bulk by wholesale businesses to other businesses, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) tracks retail-level price fluctuations from the consumer’s perspective. WPI is calculated by taking a weighted average of prices in a basket of goods, with weights based on their share of total wholesale sales. This basket comprises three major groups: Primary Articles, Fuel and Power, and Manufactured Products.

In July 2024, the annual inflation rate for Primary Articles was 3.08%, down from 8.80% in June. Inflation for Fuel and Power increased to 1.72% from 1.03% in June. The inflation rate for Manufactured Products rose to 1.58%, up from 1.43% in June, according to DPIIT.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which primarily considers retail inflation for its monetary policy decisions, maintained the benchmark interest rate (repo rate) at 6.5% for the ninth consecutive time in its August review.

‘Do not permit creation of shell companies, not a tax haven’: Mauritius regulator on Hindenburg report

The response comes days after Hindenburg Research alleged that the Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had stake in obscure offshore entities used by the Adani group for siphoning off the money.

Written by Hitesh Vyas

Mumbai | Updated: August 14, 2024 12:33 IST

Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband have been accused of siphoning off money. (Express Archives)

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius has denied claims by the recent Hindenburg report on the country being a “tax haven” and objected to the mention of “Mauritius-based shell entities”.

The FSC, Mauritius, which is an integrated regulator for the non-banking financial services sector and global business, said that the legislative framework in the country does not permit creation of shell companies.

It added that Mauritius strictly complies with international best practices and has been rated as compliant with the standards of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives. It works closely with policy makers, stakeholders and citizens to establish evidence-based international standards.

“As per the peer review conducted by the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, the OECD is satisfied that Mauritius does not have any harmful features in its tax regimes, thus recognizing Mauritius as a well-regulated, transparent and compliant jurisdiction. Therefore, Mauritius cannot be termed as a tax haven,” the FSC said in a statement on its website.

The response comes days after the US-based Hindenburg Research, quoting ‘whistleblower account’, alleged that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch had stake in obscure offshore entities used by the Adani group for siphoning off the money. The Adani group and Sebi chairperson have denied these allegations.

“Mauritius has a robust framework for global business companies. All global business companies licensed by the FSC have to meet substance requirements on an ongoing basis as per section 71 of the Financial Services Act which is strictly monitored by the FSC,” the Mauritius regulator said.

Hindenburg alleged that Sebi chairperson and her husband invested in Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund (GDOF), in which Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani, had invested.

The short seller said that a Vinod Adani controlled company had invested in “GDOF in Bermuda, a British overseas territory and tax haven, which then invested in IPE Plus Fund 1, a fund registered in Mauritius, another tax haven”.

IPE-Plus Fund 1, a small offshore Mauritius Fund, is managed by wealth management firm India Infoline (now 360 ONE WAM), Hindenburg claimed.

“The report of Hindenburg has further cited ‘”IPE Plus Fund” Is A Small Offshore Mauritius Fund’ and ‘IPE Plus Fund 1, a fund registered in Mauritius’. We wish to clarify that IPE Plus Fund and IPE Plus Fund 1 are not licensees of the FSC and are not domiciled in Mauritius,” the FSC stated.

GST Council to meet on September 9, rate rationalisation talks likely to be on table

In September 2021, the GST Council had set up a GoM to examine rate rationalisation. The committee had submitted an interim report in June 2022.

By: ENS Economic Bureau

New Delhi | August 14, 2024 08:20 IST

“The 54th Meeting of the GST Council will be held on 9th September, 2024 at New Delhi,” GST Council said in a post on social media platform X. (File Phoro)

Rate rationalisation, covering the future course for tax slabs and correction of inverted duty structure, under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, notices being sent to companies for their overseas operations, and the recent debate over tax rate on insurance premium are likely to be discussed in the GST Council meeting to be held next month. In an official statement on Tuesday, the Council said the next meeting would be held on September 9.

“The 54th Meeting of the GST Council will be held on 9th September, 2024 at New Delhi,” GST Council said in a post on social media platform X.

Before the Council meet, officers from states and Centre will meet on September 8. “There is the unfinished agenda of rate rationalisation. A move towards it would require initial steps in the form of discussions within the ministerial committee. The committee would be asked to present the work done so far for a wide ranging discussion in the Council. It also needs to be looked into whether a timeline has to be fixed for the ministerial committee to submit its recommendations on rate rationalisation and changes in the slabs,” an official said.

The Council is also expected to take up the notices being sent to companies, especially for their overseas operations even after having issued a clarificatory circular earlier. GST authorities had earlier this month made a partial reversal from their earlier position by withdrawing notice of Rs 3,898 crore to tech major Infosys out of the total tax demand of Rs 32,403 crore raised earlier in July-end for the five-year period starting 2017-18.

In its previous meeting held in June, the GST Council, which had met for the first time since the formation of the new Union government, tweaked tax rates on some items, and took a series of steps to bring down litigation and ease compliance for taxpayers. The overall GST rate rationalisation and streamlining of the slab structure, which falls into four broad categories of 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent, has been a long pending issue.

After the previous Council meeting on June 23, Sitharaman had said the next meeting of the GST Council the Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sumant Chaudhary, will give a presentation on the status of the work and aspects covered by the panel and work pending before the panel. “There will be a presentation by the GoM irrespective of whether the report is draft… and then Council will start the discussion on rate rationalisation in the next meeting,” Sitharaman had said.

In September 2021, the GST Council had set up a GoM to examine rate rationalisation. The committee had submitted an interim report in June 2022. While there have been internal discussions about merger of slabs or creation of a new slab in between 12 per cent and 18 per cent, the concerns have centred around whether it would create any revenue losses for the states and the Centre. The concern of maintaining revenue neutrality has weighed on such discussions earlier. Revenue neutrality is seen as a crucial factor as a study by the RBI had earlier shown that while the Chief Economic Advisor’s report had pegged the revenue neutral rate at 15.3 per cent, the weighted average GST rate stood at 14.4 per cent in May 2017, and subsequently dropped to 11.6 per cent by September 2019.

Rate rationalisation is a crucial step towards simplifying India’s GST regime, Saurabh Agarwal, Tax Partner, EY said. “To ensure the process is effective, it is imperative to consider the overall tax burden on end consumers when reassessing tax slabs. Prioritising sunrise sectors, such as new energy, is essential to drive down final product prices, including those in business-to-business transactions. Additionally, addressing classification ambiguities is vital during this exercise. Wide-ranging industry consultations before implementing new rates will help align stakeholder expectations and facilitate a smooth transition,” he said.

India’s weight in MSCI equity index rises; ‘may fetch around $3-bn inflows’

Tentative weight goes up from around 19% to close to 20%

Written by Hitesh Vyas

Mumbai | Updated: August 14, 2024 08:02 IST

MSCI excluded eight stocks including Cochin Shipyard, Indian Renewable Energy, Jaiprakash Associates and Network 18 Media & Investments from MSCI India Domestic Small Cap Index. (File Photo)

MSCI Inc has added seven stocks including Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL), Oil India, Vodafone Idea, and Zydus Lifesciences in MSCI India Index, resulting in net passive inflows of $2.7 billion to $3 billion from foreign institutional investors (FII) into the country.

The other stocks that have been included in MSCI India Index, which is part of MSCI Global Standard Index, are Dixon Technologies India, Oracle Financial Services and Prestige Estates Project. The latest changes will be effective from the close of August 30, MSCI said.

Bandhan Bank has been excluded from the index.

“With all the adjustments in the EM (Emerging Market) Pack, India’s tentative weight will remain close to 20 per cent. India should witness net FII passive inflow of $2.7 billion to $3 billion,” said Abhilash Pagaria Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research. Given the current pace and momentum, India’s weight could potentially cross 22 per cent by year-end, he said.

After the May 2024 rejig, when MSCI Inc included 13 domestic stocks including Canara Bank, JSW Energy Mankind Pharma and NHPC in its Global Standard Index, the country’s weight in the index rose to close to 19 per cent from 18.3 per cent.

“For HDFC Bank, the long-awaited weight increase is finally happening. MSCI has made an exception by raising with lower adjustment factor, leading to an inflow of $1.8 billion, equivalent to 93 million shares, with an impact of about 4.5 days in August Rejig,” Pagaria said. The remaining float adjustment (second and final tranche) is expected to be done in the November 2024 rejig, provided the foreign room remains at least 20 per cent, which is unlikely to pose a problem, he said. HDFC Bank shares ended at Rs 1,603 apiece, down 3.46 per cent, on BSE.

In the MSCI India Domestic Small Cap Index, 25 stocks, including Gulf Oil Lubricant India, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, GMR Power & Urban Infra, Go Digit General Insurance, India Shelter Finance, Inox Green Energy Services, Inox Wind Energy and Keystone Realtors, have been added.

MSCI excluded eight stocks including Cochin Shipyard, Indian Renewable Energy, Jaiprakash Associates and Network 18 Media & Investments from MSCI India Domestic Small Cap Index.

Separately, MSCI clarified that starting from the August 2024 Index Review, it will implement the index review changes, including changes in the Number of Shares (NOS), Foreign Inclusion Factor (FIF) and Domestic Inclusion Factor (DIF) of Adani Group and associated securities that have been previously postponed.

MSCI continues to monitor Adani Group and associated securities, including related to free float, and will issue further communication if appropriate

Indian Express Freedom Sale: Check out our discounted UPSC, digital and ePaper subscription plans, get yours today

Indian Express Digital Subscription SALE! Celebrate India's 77th year of Independence with an Indian Express subcription. Get a massive discount across our plans.

By: Info Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 11:42 IST

Don't wait! Get your Indian Express digital subscription at a discounted rate today

As India celebrates its 78th Independence Day, we at The Indian Express are offering our readers a special discount on our digital subscriptions. It’s time to take advantage of the Indian Express Freedom Sale!

For a limited time, enjoy incredible discounts on our premium subscriptions – ePaper Access only, ePaper + Digital Access and Digital Only. Whether you’re a dedicated news enthusiast or a casual reader, this is your chance to access India’s most trusted news source at unbeatable prices.

Why get an Indian Express subscription during Independence Day Freedom Sale?

– Massive Discount: Get up to 50% off on our All-Access subscriptions. One year all-access subscription at just Rs 999 (yearly) and two years at Rs 1699 (two years)

– Unlimited Premium Content: Enjoy unrestricted access to all our premium news stories that include in-depth analysis, opinion, editorials and exclusive stories

– Ad-Lite Experience: Browse all our articles with fewer interruptions with our ad-lite feature

– Daily ePaper: Stay informed with daily access to the ePaper edition of the Indian Express by choosing a city edition of your choice

– Exclusive Newsletters: Receive newsletters based on your interests straight to your inbox.

– Trusted Journalism: Our award-winning investigative journalism gets you comprehensive coverage on politics, business, sports, and more.

Express Subscription Product

One Year Plan

Two Year Plan

All Access

Rs 999/-

Rs 1699/-

ePaper Only

Rs 899/-

Rs 1599/-

Digital Only

Rs 899/-

Rs 1599/-

UPSC Plan

Rs 1199.70/-

Rs 2099.70/-

Our UPSC subscription package includes All Access plan + access to our widely subscribed UPSC Essentials monthly magazine – especially curated by our editorial team to help you prepare for your competitive examinations. It also includes access to all our UPSC preparatory content which includes UPSC key, quiz, special columns with a focus on UPSC answer key structure and much more.

How to Avail the Indian Express Independence Day Freedom SALE Offer:

1. Visit the Offer Page: Click here to view the details of the Express Freedom Month Sale.

2. Choose Your Plan: Select the subscription that best suits your needs—whether it’s a monthly, yearly, or all-access plan.

3. Complete Your Purchase: Fill in your details, make the payment, and start enjoying premium content instantly.

Don’t Miss Out! This Indian Express Freedom Month Sale is a limited-time offer. Get your subscription now to keep up with the latest news and explainers that matter to you.

Subscribe Now

Sunday Eye

- What Nature has in its arsenal to wipe out mankind

What Nature has in its arsenal to wipe out mankind

Nature’s once stable weather patterns has been upended and now we have apoplectic hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes and cyclones that can level entire cities in seconds

Written by Ranjit Lal

Updated: August 14, 2024 15:38 IST

Flood affected areas of Gujarat's Amreli district (Wikimedia Commons)

From time immemorial, we have waged war with Nature, be it on land, air or water. Our weapons of choice have been devastating. We gouge great wounds on her surface with our huge earth-movers (the dreadful JCBs), mighty tunnel drillers and excavators, not to mention fell magnificent ancient rainforests with the ubiquitous power saw. We use high-power explosives to get the job done quickly and efficiently. We build colossal concrete dams across her rivers, and like true conquerors erect entire cities, skyscrapers, et al., in the territories we have taken. We pillage and loot her precious resources, rarely bothering to treat the wounds we cause and dump giant mountains of simmering garbage all over her pristine surfaces. There is hardly an acre of land on her surface which we have not invaded and violated. Our egos inflate like hot-air balloons: mountain tops that are scaled are ‘conquered’, forests that are brought down are ‘clear-felled’ and no tree dare stand in the way of a new expressway or holiday resort. And, at the end of it all we sit back smugly and admire our handiwork.

We poison the air, with suffocating (and warming) gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, not to mention a cocktail of other noxious additives like carbon-monoxide and nitrous oxides. Chimney stacks and the exhaust pipes of cars point like cannon and gun barrels at the sky, belching forth deadly fumes.

We foul her (once) blue, crystalline waters (which cover most of the Earth’s surface) with billions of litres of glutinous oil, noxious heavy metals, poisonous chemicals and our own excreta; even animals know better than to drink from the waters they have defecated in – but us? And we blithely dump millions of tons of plastic and non-degradable waste into rivers or seas expecting them to float away forever – out of sight is out of mind.

Oh yes, on land, air and sea we have very much conquered Nature!

Really? As we can see, Nature is striking back. The biggest irony is that she hasn’t even really needed to fully use her original arsenal of WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) as yet. For the weapons we have used against her are now backfiring on us – and we’re not liking that one bit – but not doing very much to stop further carnage. We are slow-roasting our planet, enough to cause raging wildfires to sweep through entire towns and forests (which we have piously ‘protected’).

Nature’s once stable and predictable weather patterns, on which the lives of millions of creatures depended, has been upended and she has responded with apoplectic hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes and cyclones that can level entire cities in seconds. The seas are raising up gigantic waves that can toss over the mightiest aircraft carrier like a paper boat.

Floods in Odisha (Wikimedia Commons)

Infamous ‘dry seasons’ are getting drier, hotter and longer, withering our food crops, starving entire populations of both humans and animals and causing people in the once temperate West to keel over with heatstroke. We have kind of set off the detonators to her WMDs.

The melting of the ice-caps has caused sea-levels to rise ominously – inexorably drowning coastal communities the world over; soon it is said they will drown Bangladesh, New York, Mumbai, London and many other of our great coastal cities.

And what can we do in response? Send in F-16s, stealth bombers, tanks, artillery and troops when a tornado or hurricane attacks or a forest fire rages? With what weapons can we even stop an avalanche charging down a mountainside with its horde of avenging boulders and rocks, or a river that has suddenly gone rogue, like a bull elephant in musth, or a flood that swallows millions of acres of land which we once took from her? Send over bomb-laden drones and cruise missiles?

Won’t work, will it! From time to time Nature does remind us that ultimately she has the really big guns – even if sometimes we help her pull the triggers. She will merely have to burp, off the coast of California along the San Andreas Fault to have most of the west coast of America tumble headfirst into the Pacific. Yellowstone National Park sits atop the world’s most potent super-volcano: if it blows, it really will be Armageddon and, god forbid, we do anything silly to trigger that off. A slight upwards elbow nudge from the subcontinent to the great Himalayas and she will hiccup and flatten most of the cities and towns in the area.

Nature has her own arsenal of fire and brimstone in the notorious ‘ring of fire’ around the islands of South-East Asia. When one of these volcanoes, like Krakatoa or Toba blow their stacks they can asphyxiate the whole globe.

We all saw what the undersea earthquake off Indonesia did in 2004 as it sent tidal waves racing across the oceans to create havoc in far-away lands. No armada of battleships or submarines could counter that.

And then, of course, Nature has her invisible army of viruses and bacteria. Many of which are aided and abetted by the more evil minded amongst us. Covid-19 stopped us in our tracks. Once set free, these viruses mutate into even more deadly versions as we flap around frantically trying to counter them.

Ah – but we still have the ultimate weapon – the H-bomb! Yes, that might wipe us out too but it will also put paid to Nature. Not quite. Cockroaches and other unspeakable creatures will crawl out of the rubble and joyously greet a brave new world.

Science

- Astronauts Sunita Williams, Wilmore doing great but could be stuck in space for eight months: NASA

- SpaceX’s next big mission to explore polar orbit, a first for spaceflight

- Debris from Chinese rocket explosion puts Sunita Williams and other astronauts on ISS at risk: Report

- Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore’s stay in space extends; duo likely to qualify as full-time expedition crew

- Rare T Coronae Borealis nova explosion this September: What it is and how to see it

Astronauts Sunita Williams, Wilmore doing great but could be stuck in space for eight months: NASA

The astronauts were on Boeing's first crewed Starliner test flight, but thruster issues and helium leaks have raised concerns about safely returning them to Earth.

By: Express Web Desk

Updated: August 15, 2024 02:51 IST

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore. (AP photo)

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who initially planned to spend just over a week on the International Space Station (ISS), may now remain in orbit until early next year due to complications with their return craft, Boeing’s Starliner.

What was meant to be a brief stay has already stretched into two months, with the possibility of an extended mission of up to eight months.

The astronauts were part of a test flight for Boeing’s Starliner capsule, the first crewed mission for the spacecraft. However, issues with the capsule’s thrusters and helium leaks have raised concerns about its ability to safely return the crew to Earth.

As a result, NASA is considering keeping Wilmore and Williams on the ISS until SpaceX’s next mission, potentially delaying their return until February.

Joe Acaba, NASA’s chief astronaut, assured the public that both Wilmore and Williams are handling the situation well, despite the unexpected extension.

“In my office, right now I can watch them working on the ISS,” Acaba said. “They have fully integrated into the station’s crew. But we are human, and this is hard on crew members and their families, and we take that into account. But again, as professional astronauts, they are prepared for this. They are doing great.”

NASA is currently analyzing data to determine the best course of action for the astronauts.

A decision is expected by the end of next week or  the following week.

The thrusters in question are vital for maintaining the Starliner’s position during reentry, making it critical that NASA thoroughly assesses the situation before allowing the capsule to return.

Boeing, for its part, maintains that Starliner can still safely return the astronauts to Earth. The company has conducted extensive testing on the troubled thrusters since liftoff, though NASA is proceeding with caution.

For now, Wilmore and Williams remain focused on their work aboard the ISS, prepared to stay as long as needed.

(With inputs from BBC, AP)

SpaceX’s next big mission to explore polar orbit, a first for spaceflight

The astronauts onboard will attempt to study the northern lights and southern lights from space.

By: Science Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 15:46 IST

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule will carry a crew of four astronauts to a polar orbit. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has announced plans to launch the first-ever crewed mission to explore Earth’s polar orbit by the end of this year. This mission, named Fram2 after the first ship to ferry explorers to the Arctic and Antarctic regions, will be a significant milestone in private spaceflight, as no one else has successfully flown over the Earth’s polar regions before.

Fram2 is SpaceX’s sixth commercial astronaut mission, and it will see a crew of four astronauts aboard the Dragon capsule, which will be launched into polar orbit by the Falcon 9 rocket. According to a blog post by SpaceX on August 12, the mission is expected to last three to five days, with Florida selected as the launch site.

Who will be onboard the spaceflight?

Another reason why the announcement of SpaceX’s Fram2 has grabbed headlines is because the four astronauts who will be onboard the spacecraft have reportedly never been to space before.

The commander of the Fram2 mission will be Chun Wang, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur from Malta who has founded two bitcoin mining companies. He will be accompanied by Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian cinematographer; Rabea Rogge, a robotics engineer from Germany, and Eric Philips, a polar explorer from Australia, who will also be piloting the spacecraft.

The objective of the spaceflight is to study the polar regions of Earth from the Dragon capsule which will be orbiting at 425-450 kilometres above the surface. Specifically, the astronauts will be observing unusual light emissions similar to auroras i.e. the Northern lights (Aurora borealis) and Southern lights (Aurora australis).

“The crew will study green fragments and mauve ribbons of continuous emissions comparable to the phenomenon known as STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), which has been measured at an altitude of approximately 400 – 500 km above Earth’s atmosphere,” SpaceX said.

The mission hopes to provide additional insights for SpaceX on how being in space affects the human body by “capturing the first human x-ray images in space, Just-in-Time training tools, and studying the effects of spaceflight on behavioral health, all of which will help in the development of tools needed to prepare humanity for future long-duration spaceflight.”

SpaceX’s previous manned missions

In a nutshell, SpaceX has successfully launched 13 human spaceflight missions so far. A total of 50 astronauts have been flown to and from the Earth’s orbit as part of these missions. The company’s Dragon spacecraft, in particular, has been used on 46 occasions to deliver critical supplies to astronauts onboard the International Space Station, among others.

Debris from Chinese rocket explosion puts Sunita Williams and other astronauts on ISS at risk: Report

Space debris from a Chinese rocket could have a negative impact on over 1,000 satellites.

By: Science Desk

Bengaluru | Updated: August 14, 2024 13:53 IST

Chinese space rocket. (Image credit: Mission of China to the EU/X)

Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are stuck at the International Space Station (ISS). Their status might soon change from guests to full-time expedition crew members and they might have to stay at the ISS for the next six months.

Now, a new report by Business Today suggests that these astronauts might face risks due to debris from a recently exploded Chinese rocket. However, according to a report by News9, the US Space Command has said that there are no such risks.

On August 6, China’s Long March 6A rocket, carrying 18 G60 satellites, launched from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, exploded right after deploying the satellites, creating over 700 pieces of space debris. This debris could affect over 1,000 satellites.

🚨 We’re actively monitoring and analyzing the breakup event in #LEO involving a Chinese rocket body, CZ-6A. Our radar data indicates this event occurred on 6 August at ~20:10 UTC at ~810 km.

It resulted in at least 700 debris fragments and potentially more than 900. pic.twitter.com/C3sGXxIwsR

— LeoLabs (@LeoLabs_Space) August 8, 2024

The Long March 6A rocket broke apart at 503 miles (810 kilometres) above Earth’s surface, much higher than the ISS, which is at 254 miles (408 kilometres) above Earth. As of now, there is no confirmation of what caused this incident.

According to a recent report by Bloomberg, China is said to be monitoring this debris, and the foreign ministry has issued the following statement: “China has taken necessary measures and is closely monitoring the relevant orbital areas and conducting data analysis. China promotes the protection of the outer space environment and maintains the long-term sustainability of outer space activities.”

A similar incident was reported in 2022, when another Long March 6A rocket exploded, creating over 500 pieces of space debris with an increased risk of collision with other spatial bodies such as satellites.

Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore’s stay in space extends; duo likely to qualify as full-time expedition crew

Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore might have to stay at the International Space Station for at least six months, with additional responsibilities.

By: Science Desk

Bengaluru | Updated: August 14, 2024 15:04 IST

Sunita installs hardware for the SoFIE-MIST investigation. (Image credit: ISS Research/X)

Boeing’s Starliner is facing challenges such as helium leakage and thruster failures, which may result in astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore being stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) until NASA devises a backup plan to bring them back to Earth. According to a report by CNBC, NASA is considering using the SpaceX Dragon capsule to bring the astronauts back in February 2025.

Until then, Williams and Wilmore might continue to live on the ISS as full-time expedition crew members. Full-time expedition crew members, compared to test-flight crew will have different roles and responsibilities at the ISS. According to NASA, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are still guests at the ISS and are not a part of Expedition 71. However, if Boeing fails to rectify the issues and they end up at the ISS until February, they will be transitioned into full-time crew members and have to take up duties similar to expedition crew members.

According to Dana Weigel, NASA’s manager of the International Space Station Program, “Butch and Suni are fully trained, they’re capable and current with EVA (spacewalks), with robotics, with all the things we need them to do”.

Williams prepares DNA samples to identify microbes found in space station wastewater as a part of GiSMOS. By analyzing wastewater samples aboard the station, scientists can ensure crew health and safety and increase the scope of onboard microbial monitoring during missions. pic.twitter.com/khWX2Swng6

— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) August 7, 2024

“A couple of years ago, we made the decision — knowing that this was a test flight — to make sure that we had the right resources, supplies and training for the crew, just in case they needed to be on ISS, for whatever reason, for a longer period of time,” Weigel adds.

NASA is reportedly considering sending Boeing’s Starliner to space without any astronauts on board. This would leave SpaceX’s Dragon Crew-9 mission as the return vehicle for the astronauts currently on the International Space Station. SpaceX’s Dragon Crew-9, which has a capacity of four passengers, may only carry two astronauts to the ISS in order to accommodate the returning crew.

According to the latest reports, Crew-9 is not scheduled for takeoff until at least September 24th. These missions typically last five to six months, so all four astronauts may return to Earth by February 2025.

Rare T Coronae Borealis nova explosion this September: What it is and how to see it

T Coronae Borealis is a rare stellar explosion that is among the most-awaited astronomical events of the year.

Written by Bijin Jose

New Delhi | Updated: August 14, 2024 14:54 IST

T Coronae Borealis nova explosion occurs every 80 years and was first observed in 1217. (Representational Image/FreePik)

The world is set to witness a rare nova explosion, a powerful surge in the brightness of a star that is usually caused by a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a dwarf star.

T Coronae Borealis, also known as the Blaze Star or T CrB, is a binary system on the Northern Crown. This system has the remnant of a dead star as big as Earth, with a mass similar to the Sun. The T CrB is essentially the white dwarf and a red giant planet that orbit each other.

According to Nasa, the T CrB experiences a thermonuclear detonation on its surface almost every 80 years. It was last seen from Earth in 1946. At present, The T CrB has been showing a similar behaviour witnessed in the run up to the massive eruption in 1946. Nasa believes that if the behaviour continues, the nova event could likely take place by September 2024.

In its previous sighting, astronomers observed that in 1945, year before the explosion, the star’s luminosity dimmed. Recently, a similar phenomenon has been observed, leading astronomers to anticipate an explosion anytime between now and September. The exact time of the explosion cannot be predicted. However, astronomers say it could occur today, tomorrow, next week, or even sometime next year. However, the chances are high that it will happen sometime between now and September.

What is T Coronae Borealis

Some 3,000 light-years away from Earth, the T Coronae Borealis dwells in the constellation known as Coronae Borealis. Owing to its periodic explosive nature, this star system has been closely observed by astronomers on Earth for years. They have classified it as a recurring nova due to its cyclic eruptions. It is a binary system, meaning the T CrB consists of two stars – a red giant and a white dwarf. As both these stars orbit each other they create the perfect conditions for the recurring nova events.

According to Nasa, the first recorded sighting of T CrB was over 800 years ago in 1217 when Abbot Buchard from Ursberg, Germany observed it. He noted it as a faint star that for a time shone with great light.

How do the nova explosions on T CrB occur?

The nova explosions on T CrB occur when the red giant expands and fills its Roche lobe (a teardrop-shaped region where the material is bound to the star by gravity). Following this the matter from the red giant crosses the gravitational balance point. At the same time hydrogen gas accumulates on the white dwarf’s surface and there is an increase in pressure and temperature at the base of this hydrogen layer. When these critical conditions combine, there is a spontaneous thermonuclear fusion resulting in an explosion that violently ejects the accumulated gas. This event occurs nearly every 80 years for T CrB.

It needs to be noted that this is not a supernova, which is said to be the final massive explosion that destroys dying stars. During a nova event, the dwarf star is intact, and relays its accumulated material into space in an enormous blinding flash. This cycle repeats itself over time and can even occur for hundreds or thousands of years. When compared to novae, supernovae are significantly brighter and can be seen across vast cosmic distances.

During the nova event, T CrB throws shells of gas expanding away from the system and it is visible in deep astronomical images. T CrB reaches a brightness of magnitude 2.5 which is comparable to North Star (Polaris). Although it may not be as bright as some may expect, yet it is visible to the naked eye.

The next T Coronae Borealis event is a much-awaited event for the scientific community worldwide. Considering the significant advancement in technology since 1946, the upcoming event will likely make it the most thoroughly studied nova in human history.

How to spot T Coronae Borealis

To spot T CrB, one should ideally look towards the Northern Crown, which lies to the west of the Hercules constellation. Stargazers should seek a straight line passing through Arcturus and Vega, the brightest stars in the northern hemisphere, as this will lead them to Coronae Borealis. The explosion will likely be brief, and once it occurs, it will be visible to the naked eye for nearly a week.

T Coronae Borealis will be primarily visible from countries in the Northern Hemisphere, including the US, Canada, and Mexico. In Europe, it can be seen in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, while in Asia, it will be visible in India, China, Japan, South Korea, and others. Countries near the equator will have a limited view.

The T Coronae Borealis poses no threat to Earth, especially due to its distance spanning thousands of light years. This celestial event poses a unique opportunity for astronomers to closely examine the recurring nova events. T CrB’s predictable behaviour makes it invaluable in ongoing research into stellar evolution and the phenomena of explosive star formation.

Bijin Jose

Bijin Jose, an Assistant Editor at Indian Express Online in New Delhi, is a technology journalist with a portfolio spanning various prestigious publications. Starting as a citizen journalist with The Times of India in 2013, he transitioned through roles at India Today Digital and The Economic Times, before finding his niche at The Indian Express. With a BA in English from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, and an MA in English Literature, Bijin's expertise extends from crime reporting to cultural features. With a keen interest in closely covering developments in artificial intelligence, Bijin provides nuanced perspectives on its implications for society and beyond. ... Read More

Movie Review

- Mr Bachchan movie review: Ravi Teja, Harish Shankar raid our patience in this uninspired remake of Ajay Devgn’s Raid

Mr Bachchan movie review: Ravi Teja, Harish Shankar raid our patience in this uninspired remake of Ajay Devgn’s Raid

Mr Bachchan Movie Review: Adding local flavours to a remake isn’t the biggest problem in this Ravi Teja-starrer remake of Ajay Devgn’s Raid, it is tampering with the source material to such an extent that buying the remake rights feels like a waste of time.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Written by Avinash Ramachandran

Chennai | Updated: August 15, 2024 09:33 IST

Mr Bachchan Movie Review: ravi Teja film fails to do justice to its source material.

Ravi Teja and Harish Shankar aren’t new to remakes. They have successfully remade Tamil, Hindi, and Malayalam films in Telugu, and delivered blockbuster successes. Be it a rooted friendship film, a swashbuckling cop story, a relationship saga, or a genre-bending gangster story, Ravi Teja and Harish Shankar have almost always managed to crack the code of remaking a film in Telugu with elements added to suit the local sensibilities. Then, one fine day, both these talents decided to remake Ajay Devgn’s Raid in Telugu as Mr Bachchan. Well, the law of averages has finally caught up to them.

When we meet Amay Patnaik in Raid, he is already married. With that simple plot device, director Rajkumar Gupta and writer Ritesh Shah could jump right into the story of an honest Income Tax officer and his team undertaking the longest IT raid in Indian history. However, in Mr Bachchan, Harish isn’t interested in any such simple detours, and prefers taking the long way of showing Ravi Teja’s Anand aka Mr Bachchan harassing, I mean, trying to woo Jikki (Bhagyashri Borse), till she finally relents because a) He is the hero. b) The plot has to move forward c) There are multiple songs left to sing and dance in odd locations where it is only her and the women dancers who are forced to wear clothes that people are unlikely to sport in chilly climates.

Also Read:

It is not-so-often said that objectification lies in the eyes of the beholder. Many filmmakers who are often criticised for filming songs, or any sequence in a very suggestive manner, respond by blaming the eyes of the audience. Honestly, I’m ready to take this blame, and point out that the cinematography, dance choreography, and the costumes were voyeuristic. Of course, some might say the romance between Bachchan and Jikki is ‘old school’. As someone who doesn’t necessarily believe older actors should only act in age-appropriate roles, or not be paired opposite younger actors, the romance in Mr Bachchan was anything but old-school. Do you really think removing the girl’s dupatta clinging on to her cycle wheel is enough to fall in love? Do you really think that the remake of a tightly paced film like Raid needed four songs, despite the makers doing away with the mandatory hero introduction mass number? You might ask why I’ve been harping about romance and songs? Considering how Mr Bachchan is just a collection of random scenes fit between beautiful song compositions by Mickey J Meyer, this seems fair.

ALSO READ: Mr Bachchan teaser has Ravi Teja battling black money

Anyway, Mr Bachchan is named so because the protagonist’s father is a big Big B fan. Of course, this leads to mimicry attempts by Ravi Teja’s character, who channelises iconic characters of Amitabh. Now, do these scenes add to anything in the narrative? Nope, but it allows the protagonist and, to an extent, the audience to have some fun. Does the fun overstay its welcome? Absolutely. We are forced to sit through the meet-cutes and such random humour before the titular character finally enters the house of Jaggaiah (Jagapathi Babu), a political bigwig with enough connections in both State and Central governments. From here on, the actual movie starts… you might think. But the makers manage to bring in two more songs right in the middle of a seemingly intense IT raid. Full points for the commitment, but docking off more than a few for its timing.

A still from Mr Bachchan

The biggest problem with Mr Bachchan is that it fails to recreate the tension between the characters essayed by Ravi Teja and Jagapathi Babu. The stakes are never raised, and there is absolutely no doubt in our minds that Bachchan will win in his battle. Of course, we know the hero will win, but what is the fun in watching a one-sided match? Nothing that Jaggaiah does makes us believe he is really that powerful. He comes across as a garden variety head honcho of a village, who is served humble pie by the do-gooder hero. This is a role he has done so many times in his career, and yet, there is a slight interesting twist to it courtesy his mom. In fact, a lot of the characters have some interesting quirks, but they are hardly allowed to blossom. They are bulldozed into becoming just another excuse for the protagonist to flex his performance. There is no room for nuance. There is no room for finesse. All they have room for is four songs, a half-decent comedy track featuring Satya, a few punchlines from Ravi Teja, and Jagapathi Babu shouting and singing at the top of his voice.

ALSO READ: Replace Amitabh Bachchan-Rekha poster with Big B-Jaya Bachchan: CBFC to Ravi Teja’s Mr Bachchan makers

Now, of course, there will be comparisons between Raid and Mr Bachchan. Getting inspired by a source material, and giving it its own twist isn’t new to Telugu cinema. Even recently, we saw how National award-winning films like Ayyappanum Koshiyum and Pink were remade in Telugu. It was embellished by masala commercial cinema elements, and almost became unrecognisable. However, they never diluted the idea of the film. They had enough paraphernalia to make it seem like an altogether different film, but the core concept of the original was kept intact. It allowed the film to go on tangents and return without really disturbing the experience. In fact, even in Mr Bachchan, I quite enjoyed how the character and his profession is introduced. There was a sense of intent, and it clearly showed that even though the film is said to be a remake of Raid, it is cut from the cloth of Special 26. But then, this goes nowhere after a while.

With the title of the remake shifting from the action of the protagonist to the name of the protagonist, of course, we are in for a mass masala ride. But where is the tension? Where are the stakes? Why do we never really worry about what is going to happen to Bachchan or his family? Why bring in unnecessary cameos? Why feed into the stereotype that Telugu cinema needs to have all these decorations? Why reiterate the myth that Telugu audiences would only enjoy a film if certain elements are in place? But what was the most important question of all that crept in my mind when the credits were rolling…

Why buy the remake rights of a film if you are going to make a film that doesn’t resemble the original at all? At all.

Mr Bachchan Movie Cast: Ravi Teja, Bhagyashri Borse, Jagapathi Babu, Satya

Mr Bachchan Movie Director: Harish Shankar

Mr Bachchan Movie Rating: 1.5 stars

Table of Contents

Indian Express

Daily Briefing

Daily Briefing: Independence Day live; midnight stir in Kolkata; no medal for Vinesh Phogat; and more

Daily Briefing: Muhammad Yunus reaches out to Bangla Hindus; Why Pakistan has nabbed ex-ISI chief; and more

Front Page

Bangladesh unrest | Some return PM house loot: Jewellery, cat, classified papers

Dhaka to Delhi: Want to work closely, Hasina’s statements don’t help

Oppostion trying to make another Bangladesh here: Mamata

Congress leaders protest against govt school students wearing Savarkar T-shirts, booked

Captain killed, civilian injured in Doda forest gunbattle, Army says ‘war like stores’ found

Bangladesh unrest: Govt should have spoken out against quota earlier, met protesters, says Hasina son

Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina seeks justice, calls for mourning on day father was killed

Air hostess who took taxi bike allegedly molested by rider in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri

When girls broke their piggy bank, an elderly woman her surgery fund to help Wayanad

Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into doctor rape-murder case, expresses displeasure with investigation so far

India

Uttar Pradesh woman found murdered in Gurgaon, boyfriend held

‘140 crore Indians want Hindus, minorities to be safe in Bangladesh’: PM Modi in Independence Day speech

Bangladesh News Live Updates: ‘140-crore people want Hindus, minorities to be safe in Bangladesh’, says PM Modi

PM Modi Independence Day 2024 Speech Highlights: Civil code, safety of Hindus in Bangladesh, ‘Viksit Bharat’ feature in PM Modi’s address

How school children from Kerala’s Kozhikode are using class breaks to help their peers in Wayanad

Maoists kill 16-year-old boy for being ‘police informer’ in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district

Independence Day 2024 Live Updates: Can feel the outrage over atrocities against women… state govts need to take it seriously, says PM Modi

Grammy winner Ricky Kej’s rendition of India’s national anthem sets Guinness world record

Supreme Court designates Indra Sawhney and 38 others as senior advocates

Nalin Prabhat’s tenure as NSG chief cut short, sent to AGMUT cadre

ISRO to launch SSLV’s last development flight on Aug 16

Mamata protecting criminals, must resign: BJP

Govt’s plan to control vegetable prices: New urban farming clusters to boost supply

Who is Rahul Navin, the new full-time director of the ED

45% Indian-Americans went after 2010, median age below US average: Report

Indian Army to procure cutting-edge tech to detect enemy drones near border areas

President Murmu meets Indian Olympics contingent, hails players performance

Protests against assaults on journalists in Bangladesh continue in Tripura

EC reviews J-K security situation with Home Secy for holding Assembly polls

Amid growing Ukraine threat, India issues advisory to nationals in Russia: ‘Temporarily relocate to safer areas’

Full Text: President Droupadi Murmu’s speech on 78th Independence Day eve

Over 800 birth certificates issued from single ID in UP village in 2 years, probe ordered

Govind Mohan next Home Secretary, takes over from Bhalla; more key postings expected

Delhi Confidential

Delhi Confidential: After Promotion

Delhi Confidential: Catching kites part of security arrangements at Red Fort

Opinion

Skilling India — for the world

August 15, 1984, Forty Years Ago: Controversy over paid seats in medical colleges

On broadcast bill, government’s welcome step back

Harris’ or Harris’s: In grammar war, hope for democracy

A doctor’s murder and a broken system in Bengal

With freedom in 1947, the birth of the people’s Constitution

Dear Editor, I disagree: Caste is a system, not a classification

India’s aspirants need someone to help them dream

Shanta Gokhale writes: On Independence Day, of freedoms and unfreedoms

On Pakistan’s Independence Day, hope for the future in an Olympic gold

At coaching centres, education is just another product

On sub-classification of SC, ST, apex court should clear confusion over creamy layer

From Arab Spring to Bangladesh regime fall — ‘jobless growth’ is a national security issue

August 14, 1984, Forty Years Ago: Sri Lankan army troops set fire to a Tamil-dominated town

Trump and Musk are not as entertaining as they think they are

The post-Mandal moment is here — and it calls for a new politics

RBI employment data should be read with a caveat

C Raja Mohan writes: Bangladesh and the ‘foreign hand’ bogey

In his centenary year, making sense of Guru Dutt in the classroom

UPSC-CSE Key

The issue of structural unemployment and the Union Budget 2024

UPSC Key | JPCs, DDoS attack, Employment Data and more

UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : Environment, Geography, Sci-Tech MCQs on A23 iceberg, T Coronae Borealis, Nankai Trough and more (Week 71)

UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 2 : Questions on Waqf property and Interstate River Water Dispute (Week 64)

Independence Day: The lead-up to India’s independence and partition

UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : History, Culture and Social Issues MCQs on AIML, Prarthana Samaj, Gender Gap Index Report 2024 (Week 71)

UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on Geomagnetic storms and objectives and benefits of the Clean Plant Programme (Week 64)

Explained

Telling Numbers: How many US Vice Presidents have gone on to become President

Microwave ovens host thriving communities of microbes: What a new study says

What is the role of campaign cash in the US presidential election?

What is the status of Hindus in Bangladesh?

Why Pakistan celebrates Independence Day on August 14, and India on August 15

What were the first postage stamps of Independent India?

What is the drug Captagon, and how is it linked to Germany?

Why is the Delhi HC hearing a plea against the exclusion of Section 377 from the new criminal laws?

How broiler chicken industry has become India’s most organised and vertically integrated agri-business

Amid Hindenburg probe calls, look at JPCs on financial allegations

Ex-ISI chief who went to Kabul after Taliban takeover, arrested: reasons and context

Trump-Musk interview on X reportedly hit by DDoS attack: What it means

What is Bangladesh’s St Martin’s Island, under spotlight after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation?

Why the withdrawal of the draft Broadcast Bill raises more questions than it answers

How Tungabhadra dam gate was swept away, why farmers are fearful

All you need to know about the Hindenburg-Adani-Buch saga

Business

India seeking review of select provisions in UAE deal

SBI raises MCLR by 10 bps across tenors

Mining tax dues: Ruling to have large financial impact on mining cos; ‘pass-on of costs may be inflationary’

RBI okays Tata Capital conversion to NBFC-ICC

Textile industry worried over Bangladesh investment: Official

India-Russia in talks to work out exchange rate to ease trade: Official

Merchandise exports drop 1.5% in July; trade deficit widens 23% to $23.5 billion

Black Box reports 55% rise in net profit in Q1

Wholesale inflation declines to 2.04% in July, ending 4-month rise

‘Do not permit creation of shell companies, not a tax haven’: Mauritius regulator on Hindenburg report

GST Council to meet on September 9, rate rationalisation talks likely to be on table

India’s weight in MSCI equity index rises; ‘may fetch around $3-bn inflows’

Indian Express Freedom Sale: Check out our discounted UPSC, digital and ePaper subscription plans, get yours today

Sunday Eye

What Nature has in its arsenal to wipe out mankind

Science

Astronauts Sunita Williams, Wilmore doing great but could be stuck in space for eight months: NASA

SpaceX’s next big mission to explore polar orbit, a first for spaceflight

Debris from Chinese rocket explosion puts Sunita Williams and other astronauts on ISS at risk: Report

Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore’s stay in space extends; duo likely to qualify as full-time expedition crew

Rare T Coronae Borealis nova explosion this September: What it is and how to see it

Movie Review

Mr Bachchan movie review: Ravi Teja, Harish Shankar raid our patience in this uninspired remake of Ajay Devgn’s Raid