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Regional

- SC to hear petitions against passing laws as Money Bills

- TNERC announces 4.83% hike in electricity tariff

- Trade deficit up 9.4% even as goods exports grew in June

- Will Union govt. shift education to State List, asks CM Stalin

- Probe under way to find motive behind attack on Trump

- Tambaram Corpn. forms special teams to check pollution along Adyar

- ‘The notion that only toppers can clear UPSC exam is wrong’

- 77 history-sheeters arrested in 2 days as part of special drive

- Search on for suspects in man’s murder in R.K. Nagar

- Fast track immigration system to be implemented at airport

- Boy killed in road accident

- Civic body likely to declare vending zones in city today

- Don’t thrust products of conception on minor victims of sexual assault: HC

- Jaffer Sadiq remanded in judicial custody; ED seeks 14-day custody

- Allied Health Sciences College holds induction day

- CM condemns Karnataka for not releasing Cauvery water

- How can CCTV visuals of Armstrong’s murder be played on TV, asks judge

- DVAC to probe assets of police and revenue officials involved in Thoothukudi police firing

- Leaders pay tributes to former CM Kamaraj on his birth anniversary

- Free breakfast scheme a component of National Education Policy: Annamalai

- Will ensure that 50% quota for in-service candidates is not affected: Minister

- Will Union govt. shift education to State List, asks Chief Minister

- SC/ST panel issues advisory against use of ‘Chandala’

- Judicial Magistrate probes killing of accused

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

Chief Justice Chandrachud says pleas challenging the Money Bill route taken by the Centre to pass contentious amendments in Parliament will be listed when he forms Constitution Benches

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Monday agreed to list petitions challenging the Money Bill route taken by the Centre to pass contentious amendments in the Parliament.

“I will list when I form Constitution Benches,” the Chief Justice addressed senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who made an oral mentioning on behalf of the petitioners, including Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh.

The Money Bill question was referred to a seven-judge Bench in November 2019 by a five-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi in the case of Rojer Mathew vs. South Indian Bank Ltd. The cardinal issue is whether such amendments could be passed as a Money Bill, circumventing the Rajya Sabha, in violation of Article 110 of the Constitution.

The provisions

A Money Bill is deemed to contain only provisions dealing with all or any of the matters under clauses (a) to (g) of Article 110(1), largely including the appropriation of money from the Consolidated Fund of India and taxation. In other words, a Money Bill is restricted only to the specified financial matters.

The reference includes legal questions concerning amendments made from 2015 onwards in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) through Money Bills, giving the Enforcement Directorate almost blanket powers of arrest, raids, etc. Though the court had upheld the legality of the PMLA amendments, it left the question of whether the amendments could have been passed as Money Bills to the seven-judge Bench.

TNERC announces 4.83% hike in electricity tariff

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has announced a hike of 4.83% for domestic and other consumers. The hike was effected as per the consumer price inflation (CPI), the organisation said. The new tariff order will take effect from July 1 this year and would be applicable for both energy and fixed charges.

In the tariff determination order, the TNERC clarified that it had hiked the electricity charges based on the CPI.

As per the tariff order, the slabs for domestic consumers have been increased in the range of 20 paise to 55 paise per unit. While the unit cost under the minimum slab of 400 units bi-monthly, is being increased from ₹4.60 per unit to ₹4.80 per unit; the hike in the slab of 401-500 units is from ₹6.15 to ₹6.45; 501-600 units, the cost is being hiked from ₹8.15 to ₹8.55; 601-800 units, it is increased from ₹9.20 to ₹9.65; in the slab of 801-1000 units, the hike is from ₹10.20 to ₹10.70 and the highest slab of above 1,000 units, the tariff is being fixed at ₹11.80 against the old rate of ₹11.25.

In the instance of a consumer using 500 units, the new bimonthly charges would be ₹2,565 against the old rate of ₹2,455.

For common facilities in multi-storey apartments, including low tension (LT) of tariff category 1E (apartments with more than three floors without lift), the rate has been increased to ₹8.55 from ₹8.15 per unit and the fixed charges have been revised to ₹107 per kilo watt per month against the old rate of ₹102.

The tariff for other LT category of public lighting, water supply and sewage has been increased from ₹8.15 to ₹8.55 and the fixed charges have been revised from ₹102 to ₹107.

The tariff has also been increased for places of worship, cottage and micro industries, private educational institutions and hostels, and industries and information technology services.

In the high tension categories also, the energy charges along with demand charges, have been increased.

Vikas Dhoot

NEW DELHI

India’s merchandise exports grew for the third straight month in June, rising 2.55% to $35.2 billion, but the import bill climbed by a faster 5% to $56.2 billion, widening the trade deficit by 9.4% from a year ago, as per quick trade estimates released by the Commerce Ministry on Monday.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that total merchandise and services exports have hit a record high of $200.3 billion in the first quarter of 2024-25, surpassing the previous high of $197.1 billion recorded in 2022-23. While Services exports numbers for the last month will be released by the Central bank, the Ministry has pegged the number at $30.3 billion, 8.9% higher than a year ago.

Noting that global growth is looking up and inflation is trending down, Mr. Barthwal said that if growth impulses sustain, India could well cross $800 billion of total exports this year. “So that is a good takeaway from the quarterly figures, which gives us optimism,” the Secretary said. He added that the government is focusing on six key sectors and 20 countries to boost exports.

Total exports

Total exports stood at a record high of $778.2 billion in 2023-24, 0.42% over the previous year. Exports will have to rise 2.8% through this year to hit the $800 billion mark, but as officials acknowledged, there are “many ifs and buts” in the mix, including festering geopolitical risks.

This June’s goods exports and imports were the second highest in 10 years, next only to the $42.3 billion of exports and $64.35 billion of imports recorded in June 2022, Mr. Barthwal asserted. The major growth drivers were engineering and electronics goods, up 10.3% and 16.9%, respectively, as well as drugs and pharmaceuticals (9.9%), chemicals (3.3%), and coffee (up 70%), the top trade official said.

Worryingly, petroleum exports slumped 18.3% in June to $5.5 billion, while imports rose 19.6% to $15.05 billion.

Will Union govt. shift education to State List, asks CM Stalin

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday questioned whether the BJP-led Union government would come forward to revoke the decision taken during the Emergency shifting the subject of ‘education’ from the State List to the Concurrent List.

Taking a dig at the BJP for having persistently discussed the Emergency imposed during the erstwhile Congress government at the Centre, Mr. Stalin asked, “Will the Union government come forward to shift education from the Concurrent List to the State List by revoking the decision taken during the Emergency?”

Mr. Stalin was speaking at the launch of the expansion of the Tamil Nadu government’s flagship Chief Minister’s breakfast scheme at St. Anne’s Primary School at Keezhacheri in Tiruvallur district. The expansion is set to benefit over 2.23 lakh children studying in 3,995 State-aided schools located in rural areas across the State.

At present, over 18.50 lakh students studying in Classes I to V in 30,992 State-run schools have been benefiting from the CM’s breakfast scheme. In a social media post, Mr. Stalin said he honoured the late Congress leader and former CM K. Kamaraj by launching the expansion of the CM’s breakfast scheme on the occasion of the late leader’s birth anniversary.

Mr. Stalin reiterated the Tamil Nadu government’s position by strongly opposing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions and recalled the legal steps being taken by the State government. As far as the Dravidian model of governance is concerned, there should be no obstacles for children from Tamil Nadu in their education, he maintained.

Associated Press, Reuters

WASHINGTON/Milwaukee

Renewed vigour: Pro-Trump supporters hold a demonstration in support of the former U.S. President in Florida on Sunday. AFPGIORGIO VIERA

Investigators were hunting for any clues about what may have driven Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump, to carry out Saturday’s attack. The FBI said they were investigating it as a potential act of domestic terrorism, but the absence of a clear ideological motive led conspiracy theories to flourish.

Crooks first came to law enforcement’s attention at Saturday’s rally when spectators noticed him acting strangely outside the campaign event.

Special teams formed by Tambaram Corporation help keep Adyar clean

K. Lakshmi

CHENNAI

The civic body has plugged eight sewage outfalls over the past two months and levied a fine of nearly ₹2 lakh on commercial establishments and residential complexes for dumping garbage and discharging sewage into the river

Drive against pollution: Workers of the Tambaram Municipal Corporation removing garbage from the Adyar in Anakaputhur on Monday. B. VELANKANNI RAJ B. VELANKANNI RAJ

The upper reaches of the Adyar are showing signs of improvement as a portion of it has been cleaned, and has become free of sewage outfalls. This is being done on a 16-km stretch of the river, which runs along places such as Perungalathur, Thiruneermalai, Gerugambakkam, and Anakapathur, and has been an easy target for misuse.

To stave off degradation of the river, the Tambaram Municipal Corporation has formed special teams to strengthen surveillance along its course and levy fines on those found causing pollution. In the past two months, nearly 23.5 tonnes of garbage has been removed near vulnerable stretches, including Anakaputhur and Thiruneermalai.

Residents of Pozhichalur said some of the worst-affected stretches now sport a cleaner look. A. Parthiban, a resident, said garbage along the river bund that had narrowed Pallavaram Road, which linked Cowl Bazaar to Kolapakkam, had been removed. “It used to be one of the worst stretches to travel on. The road has been relaid and is wider now as the mounds of waste are gone,” he said.

R. Alagu Meena, Commissioner, Tambaram Municipal Corporation, said special teams had been formed in two zones, comprising areas such as Anakapathur, Thiruneermalai, and Perungalathur, to monitor sewage pollution and garbage dumping in the river.

Besides this, closed-circuit television cameras are being installed at various places, such as Mudichur Road, for better surveillance.

“We have also prepared proposals to construct underground drainage network at panchayats near Thiruneermalai to prevent raw sewage from flowing into the river or other waterbodies,” she said.

The civic body has plugged eight sewage outfalls over the past two months and levied a fine of nearly ₹2 lakh on commercial establishments and residential complexes for dumping garbage and discharging sewage into the river. Officials said work to provide sewer networks in areas such as Anakaputhur and Pammal was nearing completion and could put an end to the sewage pollution.

The teams also monitor lorries that dump sewage into the river and deter people from using the river as a dumping space as part of concerted efforts with the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust. The civic body has also made proposals to set up material recovery facilities to produce recyclable materials and reduce the amount of garbage being sent to dumping yards.

Earlier, the Water Resources Department (WRD) had written to various local bodies last year, asking them to take action against those dumping garbage in waterbodies as it hindered conservation efforts. Officials said the WRD did not have the powers to initiate action against such people, unlike local bodies. A dedicated surveillance system along the entire stretch of the river could sustain the conservation efforts, the letter added.

‘The notion that only toppers can clear UPSC exam is wrong’

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

P.K. Saravanan, Deputy Commissioner, Chennai Airport Customs Commissionerate, speaking at the meet for UPSC aspirants at Sairam Engineering College on Monday. B. VELANKANNI RAJ B. VELANKANNI RAJ

A meet for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam aspirants was organised by The Hindu in association with the Shankar IAS Academy at Sairam Engineering College, near Tambaram, on Monday.

P.K. Saravanan, Deputy Commissioner, Chennai Airport Customs Commissionerate, said UPSC aspirants should be aware of the day-to-day political and cultural happenings on top of the proficiency in their college subjects they were expected to specialise in. He also answered several questions raised by students, citing his own experiences and of several others who cleared the UPSC exam to become Indian Administrative Service officers.

Mr. Saravanan said the notion that only toppers could clear the UPSC exam was wrong.

“In the UPSC exam, only the final degree counts and not the marks the students score in college exams,” he said.

‘Common anxiety’

“A common anxiety among UPSC aspirants is that one has to be proficient in English,” Mr. Saravanan said, adding that: “Except for the preliminary exam, the students only need a working knowledge of English as they can take all the exams in their mother tongue. Being an average student myself, I was able to clear the UPSC to be selected for the Indian Revenue Services.”

S.D. Vaishnavi, director, Shankar IAS Academy, said for a student planning to take the civil services journey, the common issues took precedence over academics, and they had to keep updating their knowledge of various political activities.

Sridhar Arnala, Vice-President (Sales and Distribution), The Hindu Group, and J. Raja, principal, Sairam Engineering College, also spoke.

77 history-sheeters arrested in 2 days as part of special drive

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

A. Arun R. RAGU

Greater Chennai Police (GCP) Commissioner A. Arun on Monday said a special drive against anti-social elements was being carried out in the city to prevent criminal activities and identify history-sheeters or persons with criminal antecedents. He also warned that strict action would be taken against them.

On the orders of Mr. Arun, special teams, led by inspectors and under direct supervision of 12 Deputy Commissioners, have been conducting searches across Chennai to control the activities of criminals under the ‘Drive Against Rowdy Elements’ (DARE).

On Saturday and Sunday, the police arrested a total of 77 history-sheeters in Kodambakkam, Adambakkam, Pazhavanthangal, Anna Square, Chintadripet, and Kotturpuram. They visited four history-sheeters at their place of stay and warned them against indulging in any further crime. They also arrested one suspect against whom a non-bailable warrant was issued.

Search on for suspects in man’s murder in R.K. Nagar

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

The Tondiarpet police have formed special teams to apprehend four persons who murdered a 23-year-old man in R.K. Nagar on Sunday.

The police said R. Alex Babu of Corporation Nagar in Korukkupet worked as a dog catcher for the Greater Chennai Corporation. When he and his friends had gone to a Tasmac bar on Parthasarathy Street in R.K. Nagar on Sunday, they got into an argument with a gang. It escalated into a fight and Alex Babu was stabbed to death. The Tondiarpet police reached the spot and sent the body to the Government Stanley Hospital for a post-mortem.

Fast track immigration system to be implemented at airport

Sunitha Sekar

Chennai

Four counters each will be set up in the arrival and departure halls of the international terminal . It is up to the Bureau of Immigration when it wants to launch the system, says an AAI official

Hassle-free: The main aim is to ease congestion at immigration counters and speed up the process.File photo

Soon, going through immigration process may be a breeze as the airport here is all set to get e-gates.

The new Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Traveller Programme, launched by the Centre last month, will soon be implemented in the Chennai airport too, with the preparatory work under way. The main aim is to ease congestion at immigration counters and provide air passengers with an ‘an accelerated immigration pathway’ at the airport.

Those who wish to opt for the system will have to provide their details and upload the necessary documents in a portal. Once verified, a list of ‘Trusted Travellers’ will be generated, and the information will be uploaded into the e-gate’s systems. Flyers will have to provide biometrics at the office of the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO). As long as the passport is valid, this registration will be in effect for the traveller and can be renewed later. When the traveller comes to the e-gate, it will open after scanning their boarding card and passport and verifying their biometrics.

Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said four counters each in the arrival and departure halls of the international terminal would be set up once they arrived in a week. “The work will be completed in a month. After that, it is up to the Bureau of Immigration when it wants to launch the system. It may take off in a couple of months,” an official said.

The service, which is free of cost, was first introduced in the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi in June.

Time and again, passengers have expressed disappointment over waiting in long queues to clear the immigration process at the airport.

B. Krishna, a passenger, in a recent post on X said: “Very poor staffing at immigration counters is a reality at the Chennai International airport departure hall. With over 24 counters, only very few are manned. People are forced to wait for more than one hour.”

Boy killed in road accident

CHENNAI: M. Sumanth, 6, was killed when a car rammed the bike he and his parents were riding at Mosivakkam village in Chengalpattu on Sunday.

His parents Murugan, 32, and M. Sukanya, 31, suffered injuries.

The car driver has been detained.

Civic body likely to declare vending zones in city today

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

GCC is expected to permit street vendors on 776 streets . Work to remove vendors from 493 streets will begin after the Town Vending Committee declares these areas non-vending zones

Streamlining effort: Royapuram is likely to have the largest number of vending zones as 162 streets have been listed for approval by the Town Vending Committee. File photo File photo

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is set to finalise the first list of at least 776 vending zones in the 15 zones of the city on Tuesday. The GCC will put up signage declaring 493 streets as non-vending zones.

As the fourth meeting of the Town Vending Committee (TVC) will be held on Tuesday, the civic body is expected to permit street vendors on 776 streets once the committee approves. Work to remove vendors from 493 streets will begin after the committee declares the areas non-vending zones. Even after the GCC complied a list of zones, the committee is yet to declare a final list of vending and non-vending zones owing to a lack of consensus.

Royapuram is likely to have the largest number of vending zones as 162 streets have been listed for approval by the TVC. Adyar is also expected to become a popular destination for residents who intend to purchase products at an affordable cost from vendors on 109 streets. “The number is expected to increase in the coming months. Street vendors will be permitted as per the provisions of the Street Vendors Act. At the same time, we will ensure that street vendors don’t cause traffic congestion,” an official said. Valasaravakkam is expected to get 90 vending zones, while Teynampet will get at least 74.

From Tuesday, a large number of street vendors are expected to be removed from the streets in Royapuram, where 145 stretches have been listed as non-vending zones. Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar has 86 non-vending zones.

CPI Chennai Central district secretary G. Selva said the GCC should treat street vendors with dignity as per the provisions of the Street Vendors Act.

“The incidents of deaths of women street vendors reportedly caused during the eviction drives should not occur again. Many women sell idli batter and food products along the street. This is affordable. This helps poor people,” he said.

Councillor T.V. Shemmozhi said the officials had already started removing street vendors from non-vending zones in Anna Nagar. “We have only one vending zone in our ward. But there are many street vendors,” he said.

Meanwhile, the TVC members are also expected to recommend 297 additional streets for inclusion on the list of vending zones. As 100 additional streets in Kodambakkam zone have been recommended by members, areas such as T. Nagar are expected to get a large number of vending zones once the traffic police officials give their approval. The officials said the city could accommodate 2,000 vending zones.

Don’t thrust products of conception on minor victims of sexual assault: HC

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Monday ordered that henceforth, the products of conception, obtained from minor victims of sexual assault after they undergo medical termination of pregnancy, should not be thrust upon the victims or their family members for burial or cremation.

A special Division Bench of Justices N. Anand Venkatesh and Sunder Mohan directed the State to ensure that if the foetus was less than 24 weeks, it should be sent to the forensic sciences laboratory for analysis and retained over there until the completion of trial in the sexual assault case. After the completion of the criminal case, the foetus should be destroyed by considering it biomedical waste. The judges took note that it could not be destroyed before completion of the case because of the possibility of the foetus being required for re-analysis during the course of investigation or trial. If the foetus was more than 24 weeks old, the femur alone should be sent to the forensic laboratory for analysis. The rest of it should be destroyed by following the procedures, the judges said, and directed the State government to come up with guidelines in this regard.

The orders were passed after activist Vidya Reddy of Tulir, Centre for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, brought it to the notice of the court that there were no guidelines with respect to handling the products of conception which ultimately end up in the hands of the victim girls and their families.

The Division Bench took note of her submissions as well as a recent judgment of the Supreme Court that stated that whenever a minor approaches a registered medical practitioner for termination of pregnancy that had occurred due to consensual sex, her identity and personal details should not be revealed.

In order to ensure that the identity and personal details of such victims do not get revealed, the judge ordered that the Superintendent of Police of the district concerned or the Deputy Commissioner of Police, in the case of Commissionerates, would be held responsible if the identity of any victim gets revealed.

Jaffer Sadiq remanded in judicial custody for 14 days

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Expelled DMK functionary Jaffer Sadiq leaving the Principal Sessions Court in the city on Monday.B. Jothi Ramalingam B. Jothi Ramalingam

The Principal Sessions Court on Monday remanded Jaffer Sadiq, an expelled DMK functionary and film producer, in judicial custody till July 29 in a money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Sadiq is an alleged mastermind behind a drug syndicate that sent 45 consignments over the past three years to countries, including Australia and New Zealand. On obtaining prisoner transit remand, the ED officials produced him before the Principal Sessions Judge S. Alli on Monday.

Filing an application for 14-day custody of Sadiq, the ED said he was involved in exporting and concealing pseudoephedrine and other narcotic substances.

Sustained interrogation for 14 days is required to unearth the trail of funds, the ED said.

Judge Alli adjourned the case to Tuesday for further hearing on the application.

Induction day conducted at Allied Health Sciences College

The induction day for first-year students was conducted at the Allied Health Sciences College at Kattankulathur, near Chennai, on Monday. N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited, who was the chief guest, said students should update their skills and keep learning about advancements in their field of study. The college has over 100 courses, and around 1,500 students have enrolled in them. J.S.N. Murthy, former Vice-Chancellor, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, said the allied health sciences personnel, alongside doctors, played a significant role in the healing process. P. Sathyanarayanan, Pro-Chancellor, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, said the success in a profession required good knowledge of one’s domain and communication skills were vital to achieving success in one’s professional life.

CM condemns Karnataka for not releasing Cauvery water

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Karnataka’s action amounts to contempt of Supreme Court direction , says Stalin. The neighbouring State has said that it will not release the water due to Tamil Nadu despite a direction from CWRC

In troubled waters: As per reports, Biligundlu recorded only around 4,000 cubic feet per second at 4 p.m. FILE PHOTO

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday condemned the Karnataka government for not releasing Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water. He also called for an all-party (legislative) meeting at the Secretariat in Chennai on July 16 to decide on the future course of action.

The Tamil Nadu government had also written to the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) urging it to implement the directive of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to Karnataka to release 1 tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, Mr. Stalin said. He added that Karnataka’s action amounted to contempt of the direction of the Supreme Court.

“Karnataka refusing to release Tamil Nadu’s share of water is strongly condemnable. The Tamil Nadu government, under no circumstances, would accept such action affecting the welfare of farmers from the State,” Mr. Stalin. He was reacting to Karnataka’s stand that it would not release the water due to Tamil Nadu, despite a direction by the CWRC.

All-party meeting

Tamil Nadu Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan would chair the all-party (those represented in the Tamil Nadu legislature) meeting at the Secretariat at 11 a.m. on July 16 to discuss the future course of action, Mr. Stalin said. The meeting would also get inputs from legal experts on the issue.

As on July 15, the total storage in the four major reservoirs of Karnataka stood at 75.586 tmc, Mr. Stalin said, and further cited reports of the India Meteorological Department that predicted seasonal rains. “The storage in the Mettur dam is merely 13.808 tmc. In such a situation, Karnataka refusing to release water as per the directions of the CWRC is an act against the farmers of Tamil Nadu,” he said.

According to information reaching Chennai, even at 4 p.m., Biligundlu recorded only around 4,000 cubic feet per second. As it is expected to take two to two-and-a-half days for the water released from Kabini or Krishnaraja Sagar to get realised at the inter-State border point, officials say that there may be an improvement in the flow in the coming days.

As on July 11, Tamil Nadu had realised about 2.6 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) this month. Since June 1, the total realisation was around 4.9 tmcft. At the Mettur dam, the water level stood at 43.22 ft (full level - 120 ft) with the storage being 13.8 tmcft (capacity - 93.47 tmcft).

Meanwhile, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss said that the Chief Minister should lead the all-party meeting to discuss how to exert pressure on the Karnataka government to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. In a statement, he said that it was commendable that the Tamil Nadu government had convened an all-party meeting, but Mr. Stalin was neither participating in it nor leading it.

How can CCTV visuals of Armstrong’s murder be played on TV, asks judge

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI

The CCTV visuals were a crucial piece of electronic evidence in the murder case, the HC said.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court on Monday expressed shock over CCTV camera footage related to the murder of BSP Tamil Nadu president K. Armstrong having been telecast widely in almost all Tamil television channels on Sunday.

Presiding over a special Division Bench along with Justice Sunder Mohan to hear a case against the revealing of the identity of minor victims of sexual assault, Justice Venkatesh said that the CCTV visuals were a crucial piece of electronic evidence in the murder case, and hence, it was “unfortunate” that they were played on television.

When the judge was told about the right to privacy of minor victims of sexual assault being violated time and again due to the revelation of their identity and private details, the judge lamented that the system was so opaque that nothing remained a secret.

“The way in which they started publicising that murder in all media yesterday, it is very unfortunate that these things keep happening. What type of a system are we having?” the judge wondered.

“What is it that the police are attempting to prove? People will keep on criticising and saying something. That does not mean that you will show every aspect of the murder inch by inch on television just to justify the killing of one of the suspects in an encounter,” he said.

The judge said that if all the important information collected during the course of the investigation of a criminal case gets leaked like this, and the identity of the suspects is revealed by the media, it will become very tough for the courts to convict them after a full-fledged trial.

He said that the next danger the judiciary was anticipating was the requirement to record on video the statements of witnesses as well as victims, as per the provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which had replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure from July 1. “When the statements are given by a victim, what is the guarantee that these videos will not get leaked? A girl victim, as such, will be terrified. Yet, now, it is mandated that her statement should be videographed. What will happen if the video is leaked? This is the next biggest challenge that we will be facing,” he said.

HC directs DVAC to probe assets of officials involved in Thoothukudi police firing

Mohamed Imranullah S.

Chennai

The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) to conduct an inquiry into the assets of police and revenue personnel involved in the 2018 Thoothukudi Sterlite police firing, in which 13 protesters were shot dead, and submit a report before the court on July 29.

A Division Bench of Justices S.S. Sundar and N. Senthilkumar ordered that details of the assets procured by the individuals in their names and those of their spouses and other close relatives, at least two years prior to the police firing as well as two years after the incident, must be collated and submitted before the court.

The direction was issued on a writ petition filed by human rights activist Henri Tiphagne in 2021 against the closure of his complaint, regarding the killing of those who protested against the Vedanta-owned Sterlite copper smelting plant in Thoothukudi, by the National Human Rights Commission.

During the course of the hearing, Justice Sundar said: “All this happened because one industrialist wanted this to happen. He wanted to teach a lesson to everyone and therefore, he made it happen, and you all people (revenue as well as police personnel) actually acted only for him.”

The judge expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation conducted by the CBI into the police firing, and the charge-sheet filed by the agency against only one Inspector of Police before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Madurai in December 2023.

Though the CJM had refused to accept the charge-sheet and ordered further investigation, the CBI had reverted in June this year and re-submitted the same charge-sheet by stating that “the further investigation did not reveal criminality on the part of any public servant warranting filing of any supplementary charge-sheet”.

Expressing disappointment over such a report having been filed before the CJM, the senior judge in the Bench said: “The CBI has actually failed. Is this the way in which you conduct investigation? No court will accept this. You are now hand in glove with the people who are respondents (the police and revenue officials) here.”

Though the CBI had concluded that the police firing against the anti-Sterlite protesters was not premeditated, and that the police personnel had to open fire only as a last resort, the Division Bench said that there were certain materials to doubt the conclusion arrived at by the investigating agency.

Justice Sundar wondered how a protest that was conducted peacefully for nearly 100 days turned violent on the day of the firing. Though it was claimed that the protesters attempted to vandalise the Collectorate, one of them had been shot dead at Therespuram, about seven kilometres away, he said.

Leaders pay tributes to former CM Kamaraj on his birth anniversary

The Hindu Bureau

Chennai

Showering praise: Chief Minister M.K. Stalin paying floral tributes to Kamaraj on his birth anniversary. B. Jothi Ramalingam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin were among the leaders who paid floral tributes to late leader and former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

In a social media post, Mr. Modi said: “Remembering Thiru K. Kamaraj on his birth anniversary. He is widely respected for his visionary leadership and efforts to uplift the poor. His contribution to sectors like education remain unparalleled. We reiterate our commitment to fulfil his ideals and build a society that is just and compassionate.”

In his message, the Governor said that Kamaraj was a “great nationalist” and builder of modern Tamil Nadu.

He made possible universal access to education and the mid-day meal scheme, laid the foundation for industrialisation and power generation, and built numerous dams that boosted agricultural production, the Governor said.

A social media post from the Raj Bhavan quoted the Governor as saying: “He was the champion of social justice. His life of honesty and utter simplicity should be a lesson for our present-day leaders. His life and works remain an inspiration for all.”

Mr. Stalin paid floral tributes to Kamaraj during a function to launch the expansion of the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme.

In a social media post, he said that he had honoured Kamaraj by launching the expansion of the scheme on the occasion of the late leader’s birth anniversary.

Free breakfast scheme a component of National Education Policy: Annamalai

The Hindu Bureau

SALEM

BJP State president K. Annamalai paying homage to Kamaraj on his birth anniversary in Salem on Monday. E. Lakshmi Narayanan

The DMK’s claim that it introduced the free breakfast scheme in government and aided schools is not acceptable, as the programme is a component of the Centre’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, BJP State president K. Annamalai said in Salem on Monday.

Addressing mediapersons after paying tributes to former Chief Minister Kamaraj on the occasion of his birth anniversary, Mr. Annamalai said that the Central government encouraged the breakfast scheme, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted it to be introduced across the country.

“If States introduce the scheme, the Centre is ready to fund it. But the DMK rejected the NEP and claimed that it had introduced the scheme to the world,” he said.

“Giving food is not important, but providing nutritious food is. The Centre has listed the calorific value for students of each age group,” he said. The State government should join hands with the Centre in implementing the scheme, he added.

Reiterating his demand for a CBI probe into the killing of Thiruvengadam, a key accused in the BSP leader Armstrong murder case, in an alleged encounter, Mr. Annamalai said, “We are asking for a CBI probe to know whether it was a political murder or a result of financial problems or other reasons.”

Mr. Annamalai said that 59% of the students in Tamil Nadu cleared NEET, which was the best result in the past few years. The Supreme Court had accepted that the question paper leak was ‘localised’, he said, adding, “But the DMK is politicising the issue.”

Will ensure that 50% quota for in-service candidates is not affected: Minister

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

This is our policy, and we will not compromise on the 50% in-service quota Ma. Subramanian Health Minister

With an order withholding service quota in certain postgraduate courses drawing the ire of government doctors, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian has said that he will hold a meeting with doctors' associations and ensure that the 50% reservation for in-service doctors is not affected.

Deviating from the State’s policy of implementing the 50% in-service quota in postgraduate admissions, the Health Department had, through Government Order 151 dated July 1, said that the number of seats reserved in postgraduate (MD/MS) admissions for service candidates will be decided dynamically on a year-on-year-basis. It added that for 2024-2025, the service reservation of seats for certain specialities will be kept in abeyance for a year, and reconsidered based on the situation for the next academic year. Saturation of vacancies was cited as the reason for the decision. This irked a section of government doctors, who argued that the in-service quota was restored after a legal battle, and diluting it will affect the State’s health sector in the long run.

Mr. Subramanian told The Hindu that it was the DMK government that restored the 50% service quota through the legal route.

“This is our policy, and we will not compromise on the 50% in-service quota. I will talk with the doctors' associations. If they need modifications to be made (to the G.O.), we will definitely look into it. The 50% service quota will not be affected in any way,” he said.

Will Union govt. shift education to State List, asks Chief Minister

Wider reach: Chief Minister M.K. Stalin speaking at the launch of the expansion of the breakfast scheme in Tiruvallur district on Monday. B. Jothi Ramalingam

“Be it hunger, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) or the National Education Policy of the Union government, our primary objective is to break such obstacles,” the Chief Minister said.

Recalling initial criticism over the DMK’s opposition to NEET, Mr. Stalin referred to the recent observations of the Supreme Court on the exam. “Even the entire country is opposing NEET on the path led by Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Flags off buses

The Chief Minister also flagged off 10 new buses for the State transport corporations. Tiruvallur MP Sasikanth Senthil, legislators V.G. Raajendran, S. Chandran and S. Inigo Irudayaraj, Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena and senior officials participated in the event.

SC/ST panel issues advisory against use of ‘Chandala’

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has issued an advisory to the State government to avoid employing the term ‘Chandala’, and has recommended that those who use it be booked under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

“In recent times, this word is being used in public places and on social media to insult others. So, the Commission is issuing an advisory against using the word ‘Chandala’ either to insult others or as a joke or on the political stage,” an official release from the Commission said.

‘Chandala’ is listed in Code No. 48 in the List of Scheduled Castes in Tamil Nadu. According to the lexicon of the University of Madras, it means “low, degraded man, a villain, a sinner, a person of the degraded caste and born of a Brahmin woman and a Sudra father”. It is also used to refer to a murderer.

Judicial Magistrate probes killing of accused

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

A Judicial Magistrate conducted an inquiry into the death of Thiruvengadam, one of the 11 suspects who were arrested in connection with the murder of the Tamil Nadu president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), K. Armstrong.

The 33-year-old history-sheeter was killed in an alleged encounter in the Puzhal police station limits on Sunday.

The Puzhal police registered a First Information Report (FIR) and sent it to the judicial magistrate for conducting an inquiry.

The body of the accused was sent to the Government Stanley Hospital for a postmortem.

The Judicial Magistrate in Madhavaram, Deepa, conducted an inquiry at the scene of occurrence, and with the family members of the deceased. The inquiry was conducted on Sunday and Monday.

Following a postmortem, the accused’s body was handed over to his family on Monday.

National

- SC dismisses Shivakumar’s plea to quash graft case FIR

- Body of Kerala sanitation worker recovered after 46 hours

- Centre to hold meet of officials from A.P., Telangana on July 24

- Orange alert sounded in 5 Kerala districts as heavy rain continues

- Poultry farming faces ban in Alappuzha till March 2025

- ‘India and Russia have doubled rupee-rouble payments in 2024’

- Two stealth frigates being built in Russia set to be delivered soon

- Existing structure at M.P.’s Bhojshala complex was built using remains of temple: ASI

- Priests in Uttarakhand miffed over construction of Kedarnath temple in Delhi

- Probe under way to find motive behind attack

- Vikram Misri takes over as India’s 35th Foreign Secretary

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SC dismisses Shivakumar’s plea to quash graft case FIR

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

The Congress leader was booked by the CBI in 2020 for alleged possession of disproportionate assets of ₹74.93 crore; judge says ₹41 lakh was recovered from his premises during I-T searches

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar addressing the media in Bengaluru. File photoHANDOUT E MAIL

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to quash a first information report (FIR) registered by the CBI, accusing him of corruption linked to a disproportionate assets case.

Appearing before a Bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and S.C. Sharma, senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Vipin Sanghi, for Mr. Shivakumar, said the CBI’s case was “completely illegal”.

Justice Trivedi reminded Mr. Rohatgi that the charges were serious and involved offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Mr. Rohatgi argued that Section 17A of the Act was not complied with by the Central agency.

The provision mandated that “no inquiry or investigation shall be conducted by a police officer into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the PC Act without prior approval from appropriate authority”. “Section 17A puts an embargo on enquiry or investigation into an FIR unless the required sanction is taken,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted.

Justice Trivedi said the case cannot be quashed. The judge added that ₹41 lakh was recovered from Mr. Shivakumar’s premises during Income Tax raids.

Mr. Rohatgi said the CBI cannot start a simultaneous investigation on the same issue the I-T department was already probing.

Justice Trivedi said these were two different investigations.

The Karnataka High Court had in October last year had similarly refused to quash the CBI case registered in 2020.

The Income Tax Department had raided Mr. Shivakumar in 2017. Subsequently, the ED had started its own probe.

Later, the CBI had sought sanction from the State government to register an FIR against him.

In 2020, Mr. Shivakumar was booked by the CBI for the alleged possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of ₹74.93 crore.

Body of Kerala sanitation worker recovered after 46 hours

The Hindu Bureau

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Fire and rescue personnel help a scuba diver clean up after the search operation in Thiruvananthapuram. S.R. PraveenRajkumar R 6230@Thiruvananthapuram

Forty-six hours after a sanitation worker went missing in the Amayizhanjan Canal in the Kerala capital, his body was recovered downstream on Monday morning.

The body, caught in a pile of waste, was spotted by contingent workers of the city Corporation while an intensive joint search operation of the Indian Navy, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Fire and Rescue Services was ongoing upstream in a tunnel inside the Railway Station premises.

N. Joy, 47, was put on the job by a private agency which was contracted by Railways to clean a section of the Amayizhanjan Canal, which passes through its property near the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station.

The body was first taken to the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), and after identification by relatives and fellow workers, taken to his house in Marayamuttom, where it was cremated.

Long search

For the past few days, three workers had been involved in the clean-up of a narrow, 140-metre-long section of the canal. As the rain intensified, the flow inside the canal increased, and Joy was unable to get out on time.

The search operations have been concentrated mostly on this short stretch under the assumption that it is unlikely that the body would pass through the constricted path filled with solidified waste.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled Joy’s death and thanked the personnel involved in the operation.

KPCC president K. Sudhakaran said the State government, the Corporation and the Railways had equal responsibility in the death.

Centre to hold meet of officials from A.P., Telangana on July 24

M. Rajeev

HYDERABAD

The Union Home Ministry has convened a meeting of the Chief Secretaries of the two Telugu States, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, on July 24 to review the progress of educational institutions/infrastructural projects approved under Schedule XIII of the A.P. Reorganisation Act 2014.

The meeting of the senior officials of the two States, to be chaired by the Union Home Secretary, has been organised after a considerable lapse of time. Though a meeting was proposed on March 7 this year, the Ministry deferred it in view of the elections scheduled for Lok Sabha.

The meeting will enable Telangana to impress upon the Centre about the need for fulfilling the promises made to the State in Schedule XIII of the Reorganisation Act. These include setting up of an integrated steel plant at Bayyaram in Khammam district and a rail coach factory in Kazipet.

The Union government had assured to take steps to improve road connectivity in the backward regions of Telangana but the focus was largely on the national highways rather than the rural parts. The Centre had assured to take measures to establish rapid rail and road connectivity from the new capital of the successor State of Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad and other important cities of Telangana.

The assurance, however, appears to be heading for fruition as the recent meeting of Chief Ministers A. Revanth Reddy and N. Chandrababu Naidu too focussed on the issue.

Orange alert sounded in 5 Kerala districts as heavy rain continues

The Hindu Bureau

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Southwest monsoon rainfall is likely to continue on a heavy note over Kerala, especially the northern districts, under the influence of weather systems over the Bay of Bengal region and the west coast, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast indicated on Monday.

Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod are on orange alert for isolated heavy to very rainfall on Tuesday, while all other districts except Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam are on yellow alert for isolated heavy rainfall.

Several districts remain on high alert with heavy rainfall damaging houses and forcing district administrations to move people to safer locations.

Malappuram, Kannur, and Kasaragod were on red alert for extremely heavy rainfall on Monday.

Kozhikode district reported partial damage to several old houses, prompting authorities to move the inhabitants to safer locations.

Taluk-level control rooms have been activated in the district, and people living in the landslip-prone upland areas have been advised to remain vigilant.

In Idukki, a landslip occurred at Manila Estate near Lockhart in Devikulam, Munnar. A portion of the tea plantation was destroyed after the landslip.

Poultry farming in Alappuzha may be banned to stop bird flu

The Hindu Bureau

ALAPPUZHA

The Kerala government is considering an expert panel report that has recommended a ban on poultry farming in Alappuzha until March 2025 to prevent the spread of bird flu, Animal Husbandry Minister J. Chinchurani has said.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, she said restrictions on duck and chicken farming were needed until the disease was brought under control. She said the government had held discussions with poultry farmers.

‘India and Russia have doubled rupee-rouble payments in 2024’

Suhasini Haidar

New Delhi/Moscow

According to figures shared by Russia’s state-controlled Sberbank, the number of transactions has also increased; despite Western sanctions, businessmen push for Indian manufacturers to look towards Moscow and counter China’s inroads

Boost to trade: Sberbank says it is witnessing an increase in trust towards the Indian rupee from its clients.REUTERS

India and Russia have doubled their payments in national currencies (rupee-rouble) since last year despite sanctions by the U.S. and European Union, says Russia’s state-controlled and largest bank, Sberbank, that handles a majority of payments for Indian exports to Russi. Rupee deposits by Indian corporates have also increased multi-fold in 2024.

According to figures shared by Sberbank, in January-June 2024, the volume of payments processed doubled from the January-June 2023 amount, and the number of transactions Sberbank handled increased by 80% in the first half of 2024.

While Sberbank has operated branches in India since 2010, sanctions were imposed by the U.S. in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and then by the European Union in July 2022.

The surge may rise further after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow last week, economists and Indian businessmen working in Russia hope, warning that in the absence of the Indian rupee, Chinese businesses and the yuan would continue to benefit from the “vacuum” created by the exit of Western companies.

“We are witnessing an increase in trust towards the rupee from our clients. Today, not only have rupee-denominated current accounts become a reality, but also rupee deposits, which businesses are showing great interest in. Since the beginning of the year, the volume of corporate deposits in rupees has increased sixfold,” a Sberbank spokesperson told The Hindu in response to queries about potential growth areas, adding that the rupee is now “easily convertible” in Russia, and that Sberbank hopes to serve as a “Sherpa” for more businesses given the $100 billion trade target by 2030 set by Mr. Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during talks.

“Prime Minister Modi’s journey to Moscow was very important because it was the first visit at a time when economic cooperation between the two countries has come to a qualitatively new level,” said Lydia Kulik, Head of India Studies at the SKOLKOVO Institute for Emerging Market Studies, at Moscow School of Management. “Secure payment mechanisms, insurance and logistics are among the most important areas to focus on,” she added, listing auto and aviation components, chemicals, microelectronics, consumer electronics, machinery, medical devices and agricultural products as sectors in which Indian companies should consider exporting to Russia.

According to a growing number of Indian businessmen now based in Russia, the government must move quickly as China has taken more advantage of the sanctions to fill the space vacated by nearly all Western brands, and already has bilateral trade of $240 billion, which is more evenly balanced. At present, even Indian companies are being forced to consider payments in the Chinese yuan, they say.

“I think sanctions have created new opportunities, and China has gained a lot compared to India. Of course, the Indian government has been very positive about [trade with Russia], but somehow it has not been achieved on the same scale as China,” explained Sukrit Sharan, a St. Petersburg-based board member of a joint venture between International Institute for Advanced Aerospace Technologies (IIAAT) and Indian firm Millennium Aerodynamics that produces “hybrid aeroboats”. “Indian businesses should come and venture into the market, they should fill up the Russian market with Indian products for which there is a vacuum in the region,” he said.

Two stealth frigates being built in Russia set to be delivered soon

Dinakar Peri

NEW DELHI

Naval advances: The basic structures of two frigates in Russia were lying at the Yantar shipyard in Russia. PIB

After a series of delays, two stealth frigates under construction in Russia for the Indian Navy are set to be delivered from September. Construction and deliveries were delayed due to COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions.

“First ship Tushil is ready for acceptance by the Indian Navy and is scheduled to be delivered by September. The commissioning crew reached Russia earlier this month,” a defence official in the know said. “The second ship Tamal is expected to be delivered by February 2025.”

Agreement for frigates

In October 2016, India and Russia signed an inter-governmental agreement for the four stealth frigates, two directly imported and two to be manufactured by Goa Shipyard Ltd. (GSL).

A $1-billion deal was subsequently signed for the two frigates under direct purchase. In November 2018, the GSL signed a $500-million deal with Rosoboronexport of Russia for material, design and specialist assistance to locally manufacture the two frigates, and in January 2019, the contract was signed between the Indian Defence Ministry and the GSL. All the ships are powered by engines from Zorya-Mashproekt of Ukraine.

Schedule to be followed

As per schedule, the GSL is scheduled to deliver the first ship in 2026 and the second one six months later. “Construction at GSL is progressing and the launch of the first ship would take place in the next couple of months,” a defence source said. The basic structures of two frigates in Russia were lying at the Yantar shipyard in Russia which are now being finished. The Indian Navy already operates six of these frigates weighing around 4,000 tonnes each.

Existing structure at M.P.’s Bhojshala complex was built using remains of temple: ASI

Ishita Mishra, Mehul Malpani

New Delhi

Security personnel stand guard outside the Bhojshala Temple- Kamal Maula Mosque. -

The existing structure at the Bhojshala complex in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh was constructed using the remains of a temple that existed earlier at the site, said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in its scientific survey report, which was submitted to the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday.

The court had in March asked the ASI to undertake a scientific survey of the Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex.

The ASI said that based on the survey, conducted over a period of three months using technologies such as ground-penetrating radar and from archaeological remains studied during the investigation, the pre-existing structure “can be dated to the Paramara [dynasty] period”.

“Art and architecture of the pillars and pilasters in colonnades suggest that they were originally part of a temple. For their reuse in the existing structure, figures of deities and humans carved on them were mutilated,” the ASI report, a copy of which is with The Hindu, stated.

The survey found images of Hindu deities such as Ganesha, Brahma with his consorts, Narasimha, Bhairava and other human and animal figures in the existing structure. “As human and animal figures are not permitted in mosque, at many places, such images have been chiselled out or defaced...,” the ASI said.

The ASI report also said that inscriptions in Sanskrit and Prakrit were found at the site. The report quoted an inscription on the gateway to the tomb of Abdullah Shah Changal at Dhar which had said that the temple “was violently converted” into a mosque.

Priests in Uttarakhand miffed over construction of Kedarnath temple in Delhi

Ishita Mishra

New Delhi

Devotees during pilgrimage to the Kedarnath temple.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand is caught in the eye of a political storm as the priest community in the State, which is also known as ‘Devbhoomi’ (land of the gods), is up in arms against the construction of a temple in Delhi symbolically in the name of the Kedarnath temple, the foundation stone of which was laid by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami last week.

At a time when the State is gearing for an Assembly byelection in Kedarnath, the ire of the priests, who are at the heart of the State’s religious tourism economy, may prove costly for the BJP.

Brijesh Sati, the spokesperson of the Uttarakhand Char Dham Teerth Purohit Maha Panchayat, told The Hindu that the priest community is angry that the name of Kedarnath is being misused for monetary gains. “We don’t have a problem in making Shiva temples. But they cannot replicate Kedarnath. If this is allowed, it will create confusion among devotees,” Mr. Sati said, adding that priests across the four temples in the State were protesting, and they would take their agitation to the State capital if the temple project in Delhi was not shelved.

“Jyotirling ka sthaan ek hee hai... mandir anek sthaano par bane hai (a Jyotirlinga cannot be replicated ... temples can be built at other place),” Mr. Dhami said in a statement on Monday.

Ajayendra Ajay, president of the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee, said that legal advice was being sought. He also said that action would be taken against those who “misused” the name or photo of the Badrinath and Kedarnath temples.

The tip sparked a frantic search but officers were unable to find him before he managed to get on a roof, where he opened fire.

Biden’s address

“I urge everyone — everyone, please, don’t make assumptions about his motives or his affiliations,” President Joe Biden said in remarks on Sunday from the White House.

“Let the FBI do their job, and their partner agencies do their job. I’ve instructed that this investigation be thorough and swift.”

The FBI said it believes Crooks, who had bomb-making materials in the car he drove to the rally, acted alone.

Investigators have found no threatening comments on social media accounts or ideological positions that could help explain what led him to target Mr. Trump before the Secret Service rushed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee off the stage, his face smeared with blood.

Mr. Trump said on social media the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting, but advisers said he was in “great spirits” ahead of his arrival on Sunday in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention.

Two spectators were critically injured, while a former fire chief from the area, Corey Comperatore was killed.

At the Republican Party convention that began in Milwaukee on Monday, Mr. Trump will announce his choice for a running mate, having cited as frontrunners Ohio U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would have been two days ago,” Mr. Trump told the Washington Examiner, about the Republican Party convention.

President Biden, too, in a televised address from the White House on Sunday, said: “There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can’t allow this violence to be normalised.”

He said: “The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down.”

Vikram Misri takes over as India’s 35th Foreign Secretary

Kallol Bhattacherjee

NEW DELHI

Vikram Misri

Vikram Misri, a 1989-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service, took charge as the 35th Foreign Secretary on Monday.

Mr. Misri, who served as a Deputy National Security Adviser before the current assignment, served in China during the 2020 Galwan conflict and is also known to have extensive contacts in conflict-torn Myanmar where he served as India’s Ambassador from 2016 to 2018. He has taken over from Vinay Mohan Kwatra.

The 1964-born diplomat has served in multiple Indian missions in locations such as Brussels, Tunis, Islamabad, Washington DC, Munich and the Sri Lankan capital Colombo where he was Deputy High Commissioner of India. He served as Indian envoy to Spain in 2014.

In the current circumstances, Mr. Misri will be expected to provide policy directives to the Government of India in dealing with the dynamics generated by the Israel-Palestine crisis, the continuing war in Ukraine and the upcoming U.S. election.

“Congratulate Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri as he assumes his new responsibility today. Wish him a productive and successful tenure,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in a social media post.

Similarly, the case also raises questions about the passage of the Finance Act of 2017 as a Money Bill to alter the appointments to 19 key judicial tribunals, including the National Green Tribunal and Central Administrative Tribunal.

Mr. Ramesh, a petitioner in this case, had argued that the 2017 Act was deliberately categorised as a Money Bill to “extend executive control over these institutions (tribunals) by altering the composition of the selection committees and vastly downgrading the qualifications and experience required to staff these bodies”.

The question of passage of laws after dressing them up as Money Bills had come up in the Aadhaar case too. However, the top court had, in a majority verdict in 2021, refused to review its 2018 judgment (K. Puttaswamy case) upholding the validity of the Aadhaar Act and its certification as a Money Bill.

Justice Chandrachud (as he was then) had delivered a dissenting opinion on the Review Bench in 2021.

The two questions before the Review Bench had been whether the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to declare the proposed Aadhaar law as a Money Bill was “final”.

The second, whether the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 was correctly certified as a ‘Money Bill’ under Article 110(1) of the Constitution.

Justice Chandrachud, in his dissent, had said the Review Bench ought to wait till the seven-judge Bench decided the larger questions on the Money Bill in the Rojer Mathew reference. But the majority, led by Justice (retired) A.M. Khanwilkar, had disagreed with him.

However, this marked an improvement in the oil deficit which peaked at $13.2 billion in May, QuantEco Research economists said in a research note.

Another 10 of India’s top 30 export items clocked a decline in shipment values, including the labour-intensive sectors of handicrafts (-16.6%), jute (-11.1%), marine products (-7.7%) leather (-2.2%) and gems and jewellery (-1.4%).

Gold imports

On the imports front, the value of gold shipped in fell 38.7% year-on-year to $3.06 billion, but silver imports jumped 377.4% to $210.7 million. Electronics goods imports rose 16% to $7.6 billion, while pulses imports were up 69.1%. For the first quarter, the merchandise trade deficit has expanded to $62.3 billion from $56.2 billion a year ago.

ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said this is likely to push up India’s current account deficit to about 1.4% of GDP from 1% in the same quarter a year ago, marking a turnaround of the transient 0.6% of GDP surplus recorded between January and March 2024.

Police file chargesheet in security breach case

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

The Delhi Police on Monday filed a supplementary chargesheet before a court here in connection with the Parliament security breach last year on the anniversary of the 2001 terror attack.

The police filed the chargesheet before Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur after obtaining the requisite sanctions to prosecute all the accused under the stringent Unlawful Activates (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The judge noted the submission and listed the matter for arguments on cognisance for August 2. The court also extended the judicial custody of all accused persons till the same date.

Special Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh apprised the court that certain forensic reports are awaited, and will be submitted very soon.

Earlier on June 7, the police filed a chargesheet against all six arrested persons: Manoranjan D., Lalit Jha, Amol Shinde, Mahesh Kumawat, Sagar Sharma, and Neelam Azad.

Congress welcomes SC’s decision on Money Bills

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

Party says it hopes for a final verdict before CJI’s retirement ; citing Aadhaar Act as an example, it says many Bills have been bulldozed through Parliament by having them declared Money Bills

1 of 2

2 of 2 I had challenged its [Aadhar Act’s] declaration as a Money Bill in the SC, and in his dissenting order then the present CJI had called this declaration as a ‘fraud on Constitution’ Jairam Ramesh Congress leader

The Congress on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision agreeing to consider a submission for setting up a Constitution Bench to hear pleas challenging the validity of passage of laws such as the Aadhaar Act as MoneyBills, and hoped a final verdict will come before Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud retires in November.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who also heads the Supreme Court Bar Association, that the pleadings are complete and the petitions needed to be listed for hearing. “I will take the call when I form the Constitution Benches,” the Chief Justice said.

In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said, “In the last ten years many Bills have been bulldozed through Parliament by having them declared ‘Money Bills’ under Article 110 of the Constitution. A good example of this is the Aadhar Act of 2016.”

“I had challenged its declaration as a MoneyBill in the Supreme Court, and in his dissenting judgment then, the present CJI had called this declaration as a ‘fraud on the Constitution’. I had challenged other instances as well,” Mr. Ramesh said.

“The verdict of the CJI today to set up a separate Constitutional Bench to hear pleas on the gross misuse of Article 110 since 2014 is a welcome step. Hopefully a final and definitive pronouncement will come before he retires in November 2024,” he said.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had said it would constitute a seven-judge Bench to consider the issue of validity of passage of laws such as the Aadhaar Act as a MoneyBill.

The decision was aimed at addressing the controversy around MoneyBills after the government introduced legislation such as the Aadhaar Act and even amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as MoneyBills, apparently to circumvent the Rajya Sabha where it did not have a majority then.

A MoneyBill is a piece of legislation which can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha cannot amend or reject it. The Upper House can make recommendations which may or may not be accepted by the Lower House.

Officials loyal to Opposition parties harming NDA in U.P.: Sanjay Nishad

Mayank Kumar

Lucknow

Sanjay Nishad with Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Ministers Brijesh Pathak, Keshav Prasad Maurya and others at a rally. File photo

In a veiled attack on the bureaucracy in Uttar Pradesh, Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) party chief Sanjay Nishad said a few officials are still loyal to Opposition parties such as the Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Bahujan Samaj Party in the State, and don’t hesitate to hurt the interests of the ruling BJP.

He said a few officials are supporters of “Hathi [Elephant, symbol of the BSP], Cycle [reference to SP] and Panja [Congress’s Hand symbol], but outwardly back the Kamal [Lotus, the BJP symbol]”. “Hence, when they get an opportunity to bite, they even bulldoze houses of elderly people,” he said, referring to concerns that such activities by a few officials in the State may have hurt the National Democratic Alliance’s fortunes in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Deputy CM’s comments

His statement came a day after Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that “organisation of the ruling party was greater than the government”.

Mr. Nishad, a Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government and ally of the BJP, said it was natural that the organisation of the ruling alliance was greater than the structure of governance, and respect for party workers must be upheld.

Mr. Nishad, an influential leader of the Nishad community, an Other Backward Class (OBC) with sizeable presence in eastern U.P., faced reversal in the 2024 election when his son Praveen Nishad, contesting on a BJP ticket, lost the Sant Kabir Nagar constituency by over 90,000 votes against the SP’s Laxmikant alias Pappu Nishad.

At the BJP State executive meeting on Sunday, Mr. Maurya had said, “Organisation is greater than government. No one is bigger than the organisation, the organisation was, is and will remain greater than the government.”

In the 2024 election, the BJP won only 33 Lok Sabha seats on its own in the State, 29 short of its tally in the 2019 election and 38 short of its 2014 performance.

BJP leaders have been openly calling for introspection after the party’s electoral setback, with an MLA from Jaunpur going as far as saying that “major” decisions need to be taken to reverse its fortunes in the crucial northern State, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.

Revert to old method of recruiting staff for tribal schools: Brinda

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Monday wrote to Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram over the recent centralisation of recruitment of teachers and staffers for tribal residential schools, saying it was “deeply flawed” and needed to be reversed in the best interest of the students.

Ms. Karat requested the Minister’s intervention in reverting to the previous method of letting the respective State authorities recruit teachers for these schools, adding that centralised recruitment would “undermine, if not destroy” the very purpose of these schools.

In her letter to Mr. Oram, Ms. Karat said, “A centralised examination with no regard whatsoever for knowledge of Adivasi cultures, was designed. This shockingly made it compulsory for all candidates to have ‘language competency’ in both English and Hindi but not in the language of the State, leave alone that of the Adivasi communities.”

The Hindu has reported that the centralised recruitment for Eklavya Model Residential Schools for tribal students had introduced a basic Hindi competency as a requirement. As a result, a large number of recruits were from the Hindi-speaking States and they were lining up at the National Education Society for Tribal Students with transfer requests.

“The best way to guarantee the students’ interests is to ensure that the staff and faculty of the EMR schools comprise of those who are familiar with the language spoken by the students and the cultural framework within which they live. Only local recruitment should be considered… Clearly the present method is an assault also on the federal character of the Constitution as well as being damaging for the mandate of the EMRS,” she said.

Kejriwal lost just 2 kg, AAP is misleading people: jail officials

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

Arvind Kejriwal

Countering the Aam Aadmi Party’s statement that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had lost 8.5 kg in jail, Tihar Jail authorities on Monday said he had lost only 2 kg during the course of his imprisonment.

They denied that his health was deteriorating, adding that he was being monitored by an AIIMS Medical Board.

However, senior AAP leader Atishi said in a video statement, “Mr. Kejriwal’s sugar levels have fallen to dangerous levels five times. His sugar levels fell to 50. At sugar level of 50, a person can die in 20 to 30 minutes.”

She also alleged that the BJP had endangered Mr. Kejriwal’s life.

Report from prison

In a report sent to the Home Department of the Delhi government, the Tihar Jail administration shared the AAP supremo’s vitals, stating that the party’s narrative was to “confuse and mislead the public”.

Mr. Kejriwal weighed 65 kg when he first came to prison on April 1 and 66 kg between April 8 and 29. When he returned to prison on June 2, after a 21-day bail, his weight was 63.5 kg and then on July 14, his weight was 61.5 kg, the jail authorities said.

They alleged that if he had lost any weight, it was a deliberate move as he regularly returned portions of meals despite receiving home-cooked food.

Hindenburg report: SC rejects plea to review January verdict

The Supreme Court has rejected a plea to review its January 3 verdict upholding the Securities and Exchange Board of India probe into allegations of share price manipulation and failure to disclose transactions in violation of the regulations and securities laws raised by U.S.-based Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group. A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, dismissed the plea filed by Anamika Jaiswal, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, saying there was no error apparent that warranted the rare remedy of a review.

Remark on Raj Bhavan not defamatory: Mamata to HC

The Hindu Bureau

Kolkata

Opposing the plea filed by Governor C.V. Ananda Bose before the Calcutta High Court, lawyers representing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that there was “nothing defamatory” in her statement on the Raj Bhavan.

Ms. Banerjee had said that women were not feeling safe to visit the Raj Bhavan after an employee made allegations of sexual harassment against the Governor.

The Chief Minister’s counsel said the remarks were in public interest and were not defamatory.

Mr. Bose’s counsel sought that the Chief Minister and two MLAs, Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar, be stopped from making comments against the Governor.

India to host 2nd Asia Pacific conference on civil aviation

India will host the second Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on civil aviation on September 11 and 12. As many as 39 member states of the U.N. aviation safety body International Civil Aviation Organisation fall in the Asia Pacific region and are expected to participate. “This region recorded the 33.41% of the global departures, which is the highest among all the regions in the world and it is indeed opportune that the second ministerial conference to consolidate Asia Pacific regional collaboration and co-operation to craft a futuristic vision in the region including a culture of innovation and a culture of safety is being held here,” Director-General, DGCA, Vikram Dev Dutt said at the curtain raiser event held in New Delhi.

Cong. slams BJP’s ‘Rahul backs violence against PM’ remark

The Congress on Monday slammed the BJP for its allegation that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi encouraged violence against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying “cheap politics” should not be played on the issue of security of leaders. Hitting back at the BJP, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “Cheap politics should not be played on the issue of security of leaders. The Congress party lost Mahatmaji to right-wing terrorists. We lost two Prime Ministers at the hands of terrorists. We lost our entire Chhattisgarh leadership to left-wing terrorists, under the watch of the BJP government.”PTI

Days after taking charge, Hemant Soren calls on Modi

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, days after he took charge of the post again.

Posting a picture on X from his meeting with Mr. Modi, Mr. Soren said the meeting was a “courtesy call”.

After spending around five months in prison, he got bail and became CM again on July 4.

ICAR to release 323 new varieties of 56 crops today

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

Council to launch ‘one scientist, one product’ programme for its 5,500 scientists to come up with a product, technology, model or publication every year; plan afoot for 100 seed varieties in 100 days

Expanding fruit bowl: A glimpse of the exhibition of the technologies and products developed by ICAR, on the sidelines of its 96th Foundation Day and Technology Day in New Delhi on Monday. ANI

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will launch its “one scientist, one product” programme on Tuesday to improve research in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry.

The council will formally announce the release of 323 varieties of 56 crops, including cereals, oilseeds, forage crops, and sugar cane, at a function here on Tuesday as part of its 96th foundation day.

These crops include 289 climate-resilient varieties and 27 bio-fortified varieties.

The “one scientist, one product” programme will be inaugurated by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Five-year plan

Explaining the programme, ICAR Director-General Himanshu Pathak told presspersons here on Monday that the ICAR had given a target to all 5,521 scientists under the institution to come up with a product, technology, model, concept or good publication. At the beginning of every year, the scientist or a group of scientists will have to identify the product, and the ICAR will map the work. “We will monitor it at the institute level every three months and at the headquarters level every six months. This is a long plan,” he said. The scheme will work for five years.

“This year, we are prioritising seed hubs for high-yielding oilseeds and pulses varieties,” he said.

Dr. Pathak said the ICAR was also working to develop 100 new seed varieties and 100 farm technologies in 100 days as part of the Centre’s 100-day action plan. He said the council would request Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s time to launch these programmes by mid-September.

Production boost

The ICAR said in a release that with the help of breeder seeds, about 16 million hectares (mha) are under bio-fortified varieties of different crops, including wheat (13 mha), rice (0.5 mha), pearl millet (1.5 mha), lentil (0.5 mha) and mustard (1 mha) during 2023-24. “Deployment of climate-resilient technologies led to enhanced production even during the abnormal years,” the ICAR said.

It said that from 2014-15 to 2023-24, a total of 2,593 high-yielding varieties were released.

These include 2,177 climate-resilient (83% of total) varieties with biotic and abiotic stress resistance, and 150 bio-fortified crop varieties.

Panel reprimands Odisha govt. for building violation in forest land

Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI

The government was pulled up for building walls in forest land that will be part of the proposed airport in Puri.REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Union Environment Ministry has reprimanded the Odisha government for building walls, without approval, in forest land that will be part of the proposed Shree Jagannath International Airport in Puri. The committee has also asked the State’s Wildlife Warden to evaluate the impact of the proposed airport on the breeding of Olive Ridley turtles, which are routinely found in the vicinity of the coast.

The FAC, under provisions of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, the legislation that protects forests from wanton razing, is an expert committee that evaluates industrial projects which require forest land for their activities. The committee may or may not approve a project and can give an approval for forest land to be diverted, after imposing certain conditions. In this case, satellite pictures showed that the agency tasked with the project — it is not clear which agency — had already built a wall without waiting for approval by the FAC and the Union Environment Ministry.

In its meeting on June 24, the FAC has asked the government to furnish the names of the “erring officers” responsible for allowing or not stopping the unauthorised construction; a detailed violation report indicating the date and time of the commencement of construction; the status of work and efforts made by officers in the State government to stop the work; details of the authority/agency issuing work order for construction of boundary wall; and the entity bearing the expenditure incurred on the said alleged construction.

Following this, the committee said it would take a decision on according forest clearance to the project. The Puri airport is likely to use 27.887 hectares of forest land, and the project will involve the felling of 13,504 trees in the forest.

The Airports Authority of India identified the site in 2021. The Ministry of Civil Aviation issued the site clearance certificate in September 2023. The total projected cost of the airport is ₹2,023 crore, and it is expected to built by a public-private consortium.

(set by Afterdark)

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Across

1 Winner's angry about deviants, essentially getting military award (8,5)

10 Electric circuit on roaster damaged overworking (9)

11 Poles are in a catch (5)

12 Satisfy service-level agreement, take 50% discount (5)

13 Full-time employee is independent, very sincere at work (2-7)

14 Scratching head, chemist turns to belief in god (6)

16 Have dhal in the second half and meat (4)

19 Chinese idol in Japan kept by ordinary guards (4)

20 Old name of capital often opted by ruler (6)

25 Knowledge about battle at Ukraine finally taken to head (9)

26 Boorish son smothers one in victory (5)

27 Avoid backing Dave having drugs (5)

28 Application with no licence to operate hearse around Western Australia and Redmond primarily (9)

29 Offered to keep the essence gentle (13)

Down

2 Terrible side, naps to a large degree (2,6)

3 100 + 9.5 unit of mass (5)

4 Heartlessly coach again to remember (6)

5 Irritating to see Victor in new air-base (8)

6 Rescuer struggles to contain force and acceleration to come up again (9)

7 Fixed attics in a hurry (6)

8 Present? Not new, made in advance (6)

9 Number could be odd or this, small earlier (5)

15 Completely lifeless notes composed by father after consuming drug (5-4)

17 Behind every start, ship uses gold and an appraiser (8)

18 Residence of a clergyman gets six cars nearly, on time (8)

21 Spice given for a drink at Germany (6)

22 Provide auditor some time to get her head cleared (5)

23 Able to take a small piece, basically excellent starter (6)

24 West Indies cap earned held by Bolt (6)

26 Sharp swing (5)

Pune Police book parents of controversial IAS officer in a land dispute case

The Hindu Bureau

Pune

The police put a notice outside Puja’s residence on Sunday.PTI

The Pune Police have registered a first information report against the mother of the controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar in a land dispute case after a video showed her allegedly threatening a farmer with a gun over a land dispute. The officer’s father, Dilip Khedkar, and five others have also been charged under Sections of the Bharatiya (Second) Nyay Sanhita at the Paud police station. Among the charges is dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property under Section 323 of the Act.

Ms. Manorama is facing a case under the Arms Act as well. Authorities said she was “untraceable” despite the police visiting the family’s residence on Sunday and Monday. “We have not been able to enter the premises. Manorama Khedkar’s mobile phone is also switched off. We plan to set up an inquiry and take legal action against her once she is found,” a police official from the Paud station said.

The complaint against Ms. Manorama came to the fore after allegations were raised that Ms. Puja had faked disability and OBC status for the IAS recruitment, and had been demanding perks not given to trainee officers. Earlier, when farmers tried to lodge a complaint over Ms. Manorama’s behaviour, the police had refused to file a complaint. However, with Ms. Puja (currently undergoing training in Washim district) under the scanner, the Pune Rural police have finally swung into action.

It has also been alleged that Mr. Dilip, who contested the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat this year as a candidate of the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, amassed property worth crores of rupees.

Web of desires

When a person is caught in a web of desires and is unaware of it, this is called mahamaya, So. So. Meenakshisundaram said in a discourse.

A sage asked one of his disciples to wash his garments. When the sishya dipped the dhoti in the river, fish were caught in it. While wringing the cloth, the sishya squeezed the fish to death. The sage cursed his disciple. The sishya was to be born as a pig, and at the end of that birth, he was to return to his guru. The sishya did not want to spend a long time away from his guru. Upon his request, his friends found out where he was going to be born from the guru, so that they could kill him at once, liberating him from the curse.

The cursed sishya was born as a pig. With the information received from the guru, the sishya’s friends found the piglet. They were about to smash its head, when it said, “Stop. Don’t kill me. I like my life as a pig!” The sishya wasn’t even aware that he was wallowing in filth. This is an example of mahamaya. The unfortunate disciple was, obviously, enjoying his life as a pig. Gone was his sadness at being separated from his guru. We are often in the same position as the pig. We spend our lives in undesirable activities, but are not aware that we are doing so. Awareness of our situation is the first step towards moksha.

Maoist leader becomes Ph.D. scholar in Bengal

The Hindu Bureau

Kolkata

Arnab Dam, a convicted Maoist, is set to take admission at the University of Burdwan in West Bengal as a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of History.

Dam cleared his counselling round on Monday after securing the first rank among 220 candidates in the entrance test.

The university has said that “education is the right of every citizen” and Dam deserves the seat because he is “academically a brilliant scholar”.

“He is a very bright academic scholar and we have never discriminated against him. In the future also, it will remain the same,” department head Syed Tanveer Nasreen told The Hindu. She said anybody who had “deviated from society and wants to get back should be given an opportunity”.

Dam, 46, is serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 2010 attack on an Eastern Frontier Rifles camp at Silda in Jhargram district. Twenty-four soldiers were killed in the ambush.

An IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, Dam completed his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from a correctional home.

NEET-UG row: top court issues notice on NTA plea

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from student-petitioners to a request made by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is under a cloud over the conduct of NEET-UG marred by leaks and other irregularities, to transfer their pleas pending in various High Courts to the Supreme Court.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice to the petitioners. The NTA had applied to the SC to transfer the pending cases in the High Courts to the SC for an authoritative ruling.

The three-judge Bench of the Chief Justice and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra are hearing over 40 separate petitions seeking various reliefs from fresh NEET to abolishment of the NTA. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the NEET case on Thursday.

The primary question before the Supreme Court is whether or not to order a re-test. The court has indicated that its first priority is to examine whether the wrongdoers among the candidates could be segregated from the innocent students.

Amit Shah assures Assam, Gujarat and U.P. of flood aid

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday spoke to the Chief Ministers of Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat to take stock of the flood situation due to heavy rain. He assured them of all Central help, sources said. So far, in Assam, 109 people have lost their lives in floods and rain-related incidents. More than 5,97,600 people were affected in Assam’s Cachar, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Karimganj, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari and Sivasagar districts. In U.P., nearly 1,500 villages in 22 districts were affected by floods and many have lost lives in rain-related incidents. PTI

CJI agrees to consider listing plea by Vodafone-Idea

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Monday agreed to consider listing a plea by Vodafone-Idea to correct alleged errors in the computation of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the telecom service provider (TSP), orally mentioned the plea before the Chief Justice. A curative petition against the dismissal of earlier pleas seeking correction of alleged errors in AGR-related dues is yet to be listed before a Bench, the TSP said.

In July 2021, the court had said what TSPs really wanted, under the guise of correcting “arithmetical errors”, was a recalculation of their AGR.

Gorakhpur-bound train catches fire near Mumbai

Brake binding caused a small fire around the wheels of a coach of the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Gorakhpur Express in Thane district, neighbouring Mumbai, on Monday morning, railway officials said. The blaze was doused immediately and all passengers are safe, an official said. The Gorakhpur-bound train was detained near Thakurli station (in Thane) due to the brakes on the S-8 coach binding up at around 6.30 a.m., a Central Railway (CR) spokesperson said. The train continued its journey in 20 minutes after the blaze was doused with two fire extinguishers, he added. When brakes bind, they obstruct the wheels, producing heat that causes smoke and may lead to fire. PTI

Edit

- ‘Big brother’ to ‘Brother’, a Nepal-India reset

- The Union Budget as litmus test of a rethink or stasis

- Dodging bullets

- Back to the future

- letters to the editor

- Among party-hopping defectors, 89% fielded again, 70% re-elected

- The toll that extreme heat takes on women

- From ghost city to model city

- Army seizes power in Cyprus: Fate of Makarios not known

- New German Gold Bank

- On the politics of the Nishad community

- 100 years of EEG: how does it work and what is its significance?

- U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania. A quiz on other leaders who have survived such attempts

- Know your English

‘Big brother’ to ‘Brother’, a Nepal-India reset

Kanak Mani Dixit the Founding Editor of the Himal Southasian magazine and lives in Kathmandu

Relations between India and Nepal have dipped severely since 2015 when Narendra Modi and Khadga Prasad Oli were both Prime Ministers. There is now opportunity to upgrade the relationship to ‘positive’ and ‘stable’ with Mr. Modi having reclaimed the top post a third time and as Mr. Oli too comes out on top, in a unique collaboration between his CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress.

The bilateral turbulence started with adoption of the new Constitution by Nepal’s Constituent Assembly in 2015, which New Delhi had wanted reworked. Some politicians seem to have made promises to Mr. Modi in their New Delhi visits, but in the end they promulgated the draft unamended.

While perfunctorily pointing the finger at Madhesi activists of the Tarai plains, New Delhi slapped a devastating blockade on Nepal that lasted nearly six months and generated enough bad blood to last a generation. Mr. Oli reacted sharply and on the rebound signed 10 agreements with Beijing, extending from trade, transit to power and transport.

The two Prime Ministers did meet after the blockade was lifted, but the effervescent Mr. Oli would not hold back from suggesting that the true historical Ayodhya was within present-day Nepal, or that India’s aggressive bent called for replacing the national motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ with ‘Singhameva Jayate’. Following an updated political map published by India in October 2019, Nepal’s Constitution was amended to add the Limpiyadhura-Kalapani triangle to its own map on the northwest.

Even as relations soured, New Delhi became more involved in Nepali governance and politics. Beyond politico-diplomatic pressures and above-ground activities of undercover personnel, New Delhi began fielding Hindutva advocates in the plains and hills. The Rashtraiya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to convert Nepal into their own image of India.

Power and prowess

Conjecture is rife in Kathmandu on what Mr. Modi’s third innings portends, given the legacy of the blockade, Hindutva activism, economic stifling and geopolitical coercion. With his foreign policy and national security teams unchanged, will he mellow or become more adventurous to make up for the BJP’s domestic deceleration?

The two Prime Ministers must use the opportunity of their elevation in Delhi and Kathmandu to clear the logjam. With his ‘Neighbourhood First’ initiative battered on all quadrants, Mr. Modi may want to start with policy corrections on Nepal as the nearest and closest neighbour. Indian exceptionalism having long preceded Mr. Modi, going back to Jawaharlal Nehru’s diktats to Kathmandu’s bickering politicians, New Delhi should have known by now that manufacturing consent in Nepal is a lost cause.

India’s relentless engagement with Nepal’s politics and governance goes against the principle of non-interference that is part of the Panchsheel doctrine. New Delhi should also understand that a hands-off policy will, ipso facto, lead to a politically stable and economically energised Nepal, which will in turn benefit India’s own national security and the economy of its Hindi heartland.

Nepal is not the basket-case neighbour as perceived by many in India. It is the seventh largest remittance-sending country to India, helping provide for livelihoods in its poorest parts, from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, all the way to Odisha. Seen in this light, New Delhi’s overbearing attitude seems based on power, not prowess.

Playing the system

Amidst unrelenting political chaos, the ability of Kathmandu’s political class, civil society, the bureaucracy and even security forces to speak on equal terms with Indian counterparts stands severely eroded. Over the decades, Nepal’s political leadership has had its share of weaklings and quislings, but the worst dip came in the just-ended prime ministerial run of Pushpa Kamal Dahal (‘Prachanda’), the Maoist chieftain, who early on had disclosed his wish to be “comfortable” for New Delhi.

Returning from an official visit to New Delhi in June 2023, Mr. Dahal conceded that he had refrained from bringing up issues that would spoil Mr. Modi’s mood and “ruin the atmosphere”. During the trip, he failed to raise each and every pending bilateral matter, including air routes for Nepal’s stillborn international airports at Bhairahawa and Pokhara, the festering territorial dispute over Limpiyadhura-Kalapani, and a report of the Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) collecting dust. To please the RSS, he and his entourage shed their official attire to don saffron robes at the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.

Mr. Dahal concluded a power trade agreement that allows New Delhi to refuse import from hydel plants built with Chinese loans or Chinese contractors under international bidding. He has allowed the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu to independently disburse grants of up to Nepal rupees 20 crore, a facility not available to any other embassy. Meanwhile, New Delhi is on a campaign in Kathmandu to persuade delinking Nepal’s hydropower from its water resource, so that bilateral agreements do not require two-thirds ratification by Parliament.

In June 2024, Mr. Dahal exuded confidence after attending Mr. Modi’s swearing-in, believing that his meagre 32 seats in the Lower House combined with New Delhi’s backing gave him the “magic formula” to remain in power. This was not to be, and New Delhi may now see the limits to its ability to play the system in Kathmandu.

As Mr. Oli takes over the reins in Kathmandu, he must discard the lethal diffidence of his predecessor, standing up for Nepal and speaking for South Asia. All bilateral matters that are hanging fire must be brought confidently to the table for airing and resolution. He must also convince Mr. Modi of the importance of reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, for the sake of a South Asia that holds a fourth of the global population.

New Delhi must understand that while Nepal’s friendship with Beijing is non-negotiable, it will never be at the cost of India. Nepal cannot afford for it to be otherwise. Meanwhile, it is incongruous that New Delhi pressures Kathmandu on China-linked hydropower, airports and airlines even as China emerges as India’s largest trading partner.

It was Mr. Modi and Mr. Oli who together nominated the eight-member India-Nepal Eminent Persons’ Group back in 2017. The team finalised its consensus report the following year, whose implementation is expected to lift bilateral relations towards a transparent, confident and equal partnership. If Mr. Modi and his team continue to stall on the release of the report, as is the case, informal means have to be sought to access its content.

Up ahead, the Nepal-India relationship must be calibrated outside the two poles of imperious New Delhi and subservient, obsequious Kathmandu. The latter must find its voice, and New Delhi must reflect on how the failed policy of interference in politics and governance has left Nepal flailing.

A South Asia at peace

The ‘default setting’ of the Nepali state and people is cordiality towards India and Indians, but New Delhi seems unconvinced. A continuing ‘Himalayan paranoia’, with its origins in the 1962 debacle with China, fuels geo-strategic insecurity in New Delhi think-tanks. Hence, they are far from considering Nepal as the future connectivity gateway to the Chinese mainland via railways and roadways breaching the Himalayan rampart.

Nor do New Delhi economists care to note the enormous savings in military expenditure represented by the very presence of Nepal as a benign buffer along the central stretch of the Himalaya — even more relevant amidst the ongoing concern over the Indian exchequer’s inability to bear military costs and pensions.

The open Nepal-India border is the prototype for a future South Asia at peace, even though New Delhi analysts constantly harp on the insecurity it represents for India.

In fact, it is Nepal which has suffered, with the Maoists using shelters across the unregulated frontier during their decade of insurrection against the Nepali state. Every summer, the Indian media goes to town about Nepal ‘releasing’ monsoon waters into the Ganga plain, but there are no significant storage dams in Nepal and the two barrages on the Gandaki and Kosi are controlled by New Delhi.

‘Nepal studies’ does not exist as an academic discipline in India, which is one reason Indian citizens think of Nepal as a poor, ungrateful and even malevolent neighbour. It is Kathmandu’s job to reach out, erase misconceptions and suggest possibilities. Exasperated Nepalis would like to see India convert from the ‘big brother’ avatar to simply being ‘brother’. New Delhi’s policymakers can do their part by accepting that Nepal is, after all, a separate country.

The Union Budget as litmus test of a rethink or stasis

G. Vijay faculty member, School of Economics, University of Hyderabad

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is to present the Union Budget next week, on July 23. This time the government is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government. The Budget is not just a revenue and expenditure statement of the government. It has to be understood as representing the policy and the politics of the incumbent government.

Unlike in 2019, when the BJP had 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, it now has 240 seats. Coalition politics and the aspirations of the regional coalition partners cannot be ignored. The reduced seat tally for the BJP could suggest a resentment with and dissent against the economic policies adopted by the government during its second term in 2019-24. The general election this time was termed as ‘normal’, implying that the focus of the election campaign was around ‘bread and butter’ issues, unlike in 2014 and 2019, where it was said to be aspirational and emotive issues.

The electorate seems to have very effectively conveyed its disappointment with the government in being able to address its concerns and anxieties. Therefore, this Budget is being keenly watched.

Employment issue as a poll plank

One of the major campaign planks in the 2024 general election was unemployment, concern about inflation and questions around social and economic justice. Employment, especially, can be seen as directly or indirectly holding centrality in addressing other questions from an economic vantage point. So, what might the Budget do in addressing this objective? Economists who hold allegiance to the Chicago School of thought and its mezzanine version reiterated by those in Columbia University have already expressed aggressive opposition to the thought of the government attempting to generate employment opportunities. By implication, this targets the potential allocations for the already neglected Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) programme as well as the demands for a similar programme for the urban unemployed.

One has to understand that the MGNREGA is an outcome of the failure of the neoliberal development policy in terms of generating employment through the private sector or the market. Recent reports on employment, by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. (CMIE) and the International Labour Organization and the Institute for Human Development, have highlighted concerns with the problem of employment in India. The reports point out, with varying levels of intensity (on account of different methodologies), to the very high levels of underemployment; unemployment among youth (15-29 years); and especially among the educated youth (above secondary school education). In addition, the real incomes of the regular employed have seen a contraction, perhaps on account of high levels of informalisation and poor quality employment. On the other hand, while the incomes of casual labour have increased, this could be on account of MGNREGA and other social programmes of the government.

While the participation of women in the labour market has increased, it is more as unpaid family labour and odd service activities to supplement household incomes. These challenges are being faced alongside structural retrogression in terms of employment, implying that contrary to the orthodox imagination, there has been an increase in primary sector employment and a contraction in secondary sector employment. This is on account of the significant contraction of the unorganised sector, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

MSME sector contraction

The MSME sector has significantly contracted on account of at least three shocks — demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the COVID-19 lockdown. This sector requires special attention in this Budget and the sector needs a nuanced understanding. Earlier Budgets have focused on infrastructure (CAPEX), skill-based programmes, credit for start-ups and fiscal prudence to generate employment. Most of these interventions have had supply-side policy bias as well as served high-value end activities. In the MSME segment as well, the government’s emphasis has been on those MSMEs which are export oriented, given that high-value production and the infrastructure sector together with enterprises having foreign direct investments and export-oriented sectors have had high value-added but very low employment elasticity. The focus, therefore, has to change from prioritising growth for growth’s sake towards avenues generating employment and inclusive growth.

Where the focus should be

Social and economic justice should not be reduced to hollow cliché. This Budget has to focus on MSMEs which cater to the domestic consumption of low-income groups, which are also socially marginalised groups. Further, given the poor performance of India on the Human Development Index and Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MDPI), education, health, and housing for the deprived sections ought to find higher allocations combined with employment-generation objectives in this Budget. The rhetoric in the recent past, of India having become the fifth largest economy and on the path to develop into the third largest economy, has coexisted with the nagging problem of joblessness and poor quality employment growth — witnessed right from the mid-1990s. While political machinations show no mood towards a rethink, perhaps wanting to project the optics of continuity, let us hope that such misplaced confidence does not carry into the Budget as well.

Dodging bullets

Biden and Trump should not worsen the polarisation after the attempt

Former United States President Donald Trump has narrowly survived an assassination attempt by a gunman who fired at him during a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, hitting his ear before the 78-year-old was rushed off the podium by Secret Service agents. The shooter, identified as Thomas Crooks, a registered Republican who also made a small donation to a pro-Democratic group, died when law enforcement officers at the scene returned fire. The dramatic events have unfolded at a fraught time in American politics — not only is the 2024 presidential election a little over three months away, but, ironically, the attack comes after months of Mr. Trump and his supporters periodically indulging in rhetoric that condoned or sympathised with violence or violent intentions in the political sphere. The most notable among these instances was when he said that he believed that the mob that breached the gates of Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, was comprised of “unbelievable patriots”. To a certain extent, the seriousness of the latest incident, rare but not unprecedented in U.S. political history, engendered sympathy bridging the partisan divide. President Joe Biden unequivocally and immediately condemned the attack on Mr. Trump, saying that there was no place in America for this. “We must unite as one nation to condemn it. It’s sick.” Similar sentiments were expressed by other political figures.

So far as the impact on the election is concerned, Mr. Trump was already projected to be leading Mr. Biden narrowly in swing States — critical to the election result — in a range of polls. Now, that lead may widen, although whether it will be unassailable by election day remains to be seen. The ratings of former President Ronald Reagan jumped dramatically after he was shot by a man on March 30, 1981, 69 days after assuming office, yet that boost disappeared within several weeks. The more complex and troubling question is the extent to which the Trump campaign, in its bid to capitalise on the near martyrdom of its candidate, will adopt the language of hate politics, building on vicious comments that have already been circulating on social media since the attack, many of them blaming Democrats for the violence and deliberately conflating political opposition with personal animus. If the two presidential candidates, their campaign teams, and their party leaders abandon common civility in what should ideally be a structured partisan contest and allow baser populist instincts to dominate their speeches in the months ahead, it will inevitably exacerbate the already bitter state of polarisation in the public discourse. Whoever wins on November 5 would then stand on the brink of a deeply troubled polity, hardly the ideal scenario to build bipartisan bridges, so essential to ensure that the U.S. can tackle the many challenges it faces, foreign and domestic.

Back to the future

Alcaraz and Sinner confirm the rise of a new generation

Ever since Roger Federer retired and Rafael Nadal started fading away, tennis fans have had their eyes set on the future. On Sunday, at the Centre Court in Wimbledon, came the clearest evidence that there was a fresh dynasty taking shape with a new king in place. Carlos Alcaraz’s straight sets demolition of Novak Djokovic will likely be the watershed that heralded the change. Djokovic, a 24-time Major winner, may have entered the tournament just weeks after a knee surgery and without a final appearance since the ATP Finals last November. But the 37-year-old was a seven-time Wimbledon champion who had lost just nine completed matches at SW19 since his debut in 2005, and no two to the same opponent. That Alcaraz, 21, managed to beat the legendary Serb twice in a row might be his greatest achievement. If the 2023 triumph established the Spaniard as a serious contender, the latest victory is sure to upend the hierarchy. For the first time since Federer won his first in 2003 on these hallowed lawns, three consecutive Majors have gone by without a winner from the Big Three. Alcaraz, with four Grand Slam titles in a short span of two years, has already zoomed past Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, who toiled long and hard for three Slams each.

It is not that Alcaraz is the only prodigiously talented player to emerge in recent years. Jannik Sinner, the reigning World No.1 and the 2024 Australian Open champion, has shown sufficient mettle to prove that he will be the generational rival to Alcaraz. On his day, Daniil Medvedev, especially on hard courts, can be an equal. But no player has looked as complete as Alcaraz, who has all the shots in the book and a mental make-up to match. Of his 15 titles, eight have come on clay, four on hard and three on grass. And he has won his debut finals at both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, a feat even Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have not managed. Among women, it was the turn of Barbora Krejcikova to master the sport’s natural surfaces as she added the grass-court Major to the French Open singles trophy that she won in 2021. The Czech may have been the seventh first-time winner at the All England Club in as many editions, but her success is more a sign of the depth in the ladies’ game than of perpetual flux. And Wimbledon is where this is likely to be most pronounced until the women’s Tour’s leading players, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, crack the code on the lush green lawns.

Encounter in Chennai

It appears that the Chennai city police commissioner is, as he said when assuming charge, beginning to “speak to history sheeters in the language they understand” (Page 1, July 15). The accused should have been left alive so that the case of why the BSP leader was murdered is solved.

A. Jainulabdeen,

Chennai

The version of events put out by the Chennai police is unbelievable. The new city commissioner did say that he would ‘talk to rowdies in their language’ but he must teach his own officers a lesson or two in putting out a credible version of events and also about ‘common sense’.

With the death of the ‘accused’, how does the police propose to gather crucial evidence?

A.P. Thiruvadi,

Chennai

Assassination bid

The abortive bid on the life of Donald Trump exposes the high stakes involved in the re-election of the former President. It shows how polarised the electoral battle is in America.

Prabhu Raj R.,

Bengaluru

Among party-hopping defectors, 89% fielded again, 70% re-elected

Shivam Agarwal

Many defectors not only won in subsequent elections, but also got ministerial berths

This year, five Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs, who won the Telangana Assembly elections in 2023, defected to the Congress.

Telangana is the latest State where such defections have taken place. As defections have become common, questions have been raised about the effectiveness of the anti-defection law. Data show that many politicians who were disqualified under the anti-defection law in the past 10 years were re-elected from the party they jumped to, in subsequent by-polls. Many also managed to secure ministerial berths.

This is an analysis of 66 MLAs who defected in six States — Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Manipur. Of them, 59 (89%) were fielded again in subsequent polls by the parties they jumped to. Among the 59, the re-election rate, or the share who won again after jumping ship, was considerably high (70%).

Chart 1 shows the status of the defectors. It is important to note that, except in Andhra Pradesh, where most politicians defected from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and vice-versa, in other States, a majority of the defections were from the Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In Himachal Pradesh, six Congress MLAs cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections and were disqualified. They were all fielded by the BJP in the subsequent polls. Four of them lost (Chart 2).

In 2016, nine Congress MLAs shifted to the BJP in Uttarakhand. This led to a political crisis in the State. These MLAs were disqualified in April 2016. Seven of them were fielded again in the Assembly elections in 2017 and six of them won (Chart 3). Among the defectors, three became ministers.

The defection of 17 MLAs in 2019, almost all of them from Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), led to the collapse of the Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka. The BJP then came to power and B.S Yediyurappa became Chief Minister. Fifteen of these MLAs were fielded again as BJP candidates in the by-polls, and 80% of them were re-elected (Chart 4).

Twelve of the defectors who joined the BJP and won the by-polls were given ministerial berths. Seven of them were ministers in the previous Kumaraswamy ministry.

In 2020, 22 MLAs defected in Madhya Pradesh, reducing the Congress to a minority government after Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP. With the resignations bringing down the halfway mark, the BJP had the numbers to form the government. Later, three more Congress MLAs resigned and joined the BJP. The BJP fielded all 25 of them in the subsequent by-polls. Of them, 72% were re-elected (Chart 5). Of the defectors who were re-elected, 13 were later inducted into the Shivraj Singh Chouhan ministry. Seven of them were ministers before defection.

This year, the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly disqualified eight MLAs — four each from the TDP and YSRCP — for changing allegiance. Among them, two were fielded again from each party. The defectors contesting on the YSRCP ticket lost, whereas those contesting on the TDP ticket won the election, making the win ratio 50% (Chart 6).

In Manipur, Thounaojam Shyamkumar was elected in 2017 on a Congress ticket but switched to the BJP even before the oath-taking ceremony. He was later made a minister in the government led by N. Biren Singh and was only disqualified in 2020. He won the subsequent bye-election.

The writer is an undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering at IIT Bombay

The toll that extreme heat takes on women

1 of 2 Pradeep Kumar Choudhury Assistant Professor at Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

2 of 2 Steny Rapheal PhD student at Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Extreme heat is our planet’s norm for now and perhaps for years to come. The warmest year on record was 2023. Temperatures in several parts of India during May-June 2024 were reported to be record-breaking. Women are disproportionately harmed by extreme heat, largely because of unequal power dynamics, gender norms, and unequal access to resources, as reflected in the Global Gender Gap Index that places India at 18th rank from the bottom. Perhaps we should be alarmed by the numbers — India is home to more than one-in-six women in the world — and extreme heat is now their reality.

Hidden toll

A recent report by the ADB (Rising Above the Heat) highlights the unequal impact of extreme heat on women in Asia and the Pacific. For instance, women living in informal settlements in cities (also at the margins and in slums) face multiple challenges due to rising temperatures. Their homes could turn into heat chambers since the material used in informal, urban neighbourhoods, such as tin, asbestos, and plastic, trap heat. Women also toil in poorly ventilated kitchens, experiencing scorching temperatures while cooking. Rising temperatures are compounded by extreme time poverty and care burden for them.

Due to lower productivity stemming from heat stress, women work considerably longer hours to complete their share of unpaid work at home. According to Arsht-Rock’s ‘Scorching Divide’ report, the productivity loss due to heatwaves translates to 90 more minutes of care work per day in India. This adds to the pre-existing gender differences in time-use pattern; in doing unpaid work like cooking, cleaning, and fetching water and fuel, women spend two and a half times minutes more per day than men (National Statistical Office 2019 data). Intriguingly, more than two-third of women’s productivity loss from heat strain occurs in the domain of unpaid labour in India. The loss also reflects opportunity costs associated with heat stress — that women could have earned extra income, acquired skills, or rested enough.

Worryingly pervasive

Urban female informal labourers face harsh weather, whether working in marketplaces, streets, construction sites, landfills, or even their employers’ homes. Due to their occupational settings, these casual-wage workers — street vendors, paid domestic helpers, construction workers, and sanitation workers — are vulnerable to climatic extremes, reports the International Labour Organization (‘Work in a Changing Climate’). The situation worsens with energy poverty — living without cooling facilities such as ventilated spaces, fans, air conditioners, or coolers. Greenery and other natural forms of cooling are also becoming increasingly unavailable for public consumption in dense urban areas. Furthermore, water scarcity and power fluctuations raise the challenge of being hydrated and staying comfortable.

The situation in rural India is equally severe. Consider the daily routine of a woman in a heatwave-affected rural area: she begins her morning cooking using biomass over a hot stove, bearing the brunt of ensuing disease burden. Since 56.8% of rural Indian families cook on biomass (NFHS-5), acknowledging the extent of this public health hazard is essential. Women’s days also involve longer working hours under heat stress. If she does home-based work inside the living area with asbestos or tin roofing, temperatures could become unbearable, making labour increasingly unsafe. Also, if she faces restrictive gender norms on mobility and clothing, she could be forced to stay indoors and follow dressing styles that are not heat friendly. Conversely, if she works outdoors in the field, MGNREGA, for example, it is under the scorching sun. Additionally, prolonged exposure to heatwaves adversely affects crop yields; for poor rural women, heat may decide whether they live in hunger and poverty or not.

Unequal health strain

The incidence of heat-related diseases is also on the rise with increasing temperature. Heat stress puts the body under a great deal of strain, making it harder for it to regulate its temperature, leading to several illnesses, including heat cramps, severe heat stroke, and hyperthermia. Women are at greater risk because of their physiological makeup — their body fat percentage and water content levels affect heat tolerance and hydration, while hormonal changes associated with menstrual cycles and pregnancy affect body temperature regulation. Women have a dual burden from heat-related health issues since they are more susceptible to its effects and also shoulder majority of the care-giving responsibility that follows. Additionally, heat stress has a pronounced impact on maternal and child health. The data on heat strain’s effects translating to a rise in preterm delivery, miscarriage, and stillbirths is especially worrying in India, given its higher maternal mortality rates.

The burden on women becomes evident as India grapples with soaring temperatures. Millions continue to face worse heat-related losses, with no respite in sight. Strengthening their resilience to heat strain is the need of the hour — climate-friendly urban planning, development of and access to sustainable cooling technologies, fair division of care work, and public provisioning of essential services should be our immediate concerns. And we cannot talk about adaptation and resilience without addressing the social power gradient that determines women’s capacity to face the crisis we are experiencing.

From ghost city to model city

Sambasiva Rao M.

Naidu faces technical, financial, and political challenges in building Amaravati

Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s return as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has given new life to his dream project, Amaravati. The city, which had been abandoned after he lost the 2019 Assembly elections, is poised to reclaim its status as the capital.

As Chief Minister in 2014, Mr. Naidu had planned to build a modern, sustainable city along the banks of the Krishna river. His government drafted plans and enlisted the help of Singapore-based companies. Mr. Naidu, who has always expressed his admiration for Singapore, was keen to build a similar city that balanced economic growth, environmental sustainability, and high living standards. The State Assembly passed a resolution to locate the capital in the centre of the State.

The initial vision documents aimed to make Amaravati one of the top three liveable cities in the world with more than 50% green cover. With a capital area of 217 sq km, Amaravati was to house a government city, justice city, finance city, knowledge city, health city, sports city, media/culture city, electronics city, and tourism city.

The cornerstone of the city’s development was the land pooling scheme under which 29,966 farmers contributed approximately 34,400 acres of land to the Naidu government. In return, they were promised annuity payments, residential and commercial plots, and social benefits such as loan waivers and pensions. The government envisaged an inclusive development which would benefit those who had contributed land and foster community support for the project.

However, the progress of the project was disrupted in 2019 when Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSR Congress Party came to power and introduced his controversial ‘three capitals’ plan — Visakhapatnam as the administrative capital, Amaravati as the legislative capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital. Mr. Reddy halted construction in Amaravati; this undermined investor confidence. His ‘three capitals’ plan sparked protests among farmers.

The cessation of development work had significant economic and social consequences. Unfinished and damaged infrastructure increased completion costs and Amaravati’s credit ratings took a hit, as per a white paper recently released by Mr. Naidu. The economic fallout included job migration, decreased property values, and lost revenue opportunities.

With Mr. Naidu’s return, there is now optimism in Amaravati. His primary focus will be on mobilising resources, restoring investor confidence, and completing core infrastructure within five years.

However, there are several challenges. The first is the task of mobilising funds in a strained economic environment. Mr. Naidu will have to secure investments and government support. The second is building investor confidence. The development of Amaravati was marred by uncertainties and delays, creating scepticism among potential investors. To tackle these two challenges, Mr. Naidu will have to adopt a multi-faceted approach. His administration will need to clearly state the project’s road map, timelines, and benefits. Engaging with stakeholders and demonstrating tangible progress in the development of the city’s core areas will be vital in restoring faith among investors.

The third challenge is to complete the core infrastructure of Amaravati. The core area, which houses government buildings, residential zones, and commercial spaces, need to be prioritised to showcase the potential of the new capital. Creating a conducive environment for residents and industries will drive the city’s growth. This involves developing residential, healthcare, education, and recreational facilities. Promoting industrial sectors and creating job opportunities will be key to making Amaravati economically viable.

Mr. Naidu’s legacy will also depend on his ability to balance development with sustainability. The original plans for Amaravati included the construction of extensive green spaces, efficient public transport, and smart city technologies. If these elements are integrated into the development process, Amaravati will become a model city.

Mr. Naidu also faces a political challenge. To regain the trust of the people, he will have to demonstrate his capability to deliver on his poll promises within the next five years. The next few years will be crucial in determining whether his ambitious vision can finally be realised.

Army seizes power in Cyprus: Fate of Makarios not known

Rhodes (Greece), July 15: The Cyprus Armed Forces overthrew Archbishop Makarios in a coup to-day and appointed a newspaper publisher as President, Cyprus Radio said in a broadcast monitored here. The broadcast identified the new President as Mr. Nicholas Sampson.

The radio earlier reported Archbishop Makarios had been killed, but did not repeat this report in announcing the appointment of Mr. Sampson.

A Turkish-language broadcast from the Cypriot city of Paphos monitored in Tel Aviv said that President Makarios was alive and had sought refuge in the area of United Nations offices in Cyprus.

A Greek-language radio station reported that “the forces of President Makarios are in control of the Limassol sector.”

Speaking in English, the announcer called the “new President” a traitor and warned that he would not remain in power very long.

Israel Radio reported that Makarios said in a live radio broadcast to-night that as long as he lived, the newly claimed military regime would not rule Cyprus.

The Israeli broadcast claimed that it was the first positive proof that Archbishop Makarios survived the coup against his Government.

(In Stockholm, Sweden’s Defence Staff said Makarios was still alive and had sought United Nations protection. A cable from the Swedish U.N. battalion at Famagusta said Makarios had sought refuge in a British Cyprus base and had cabled U.N. headquarters in New York for U.N. intervention, a staff spokesman said).

New German Gold Bank

Berlin, July 15: The German Bill for the establishment of a new Gold Note Bank has been submitted to the Reparations Commission. The Bank will be conducted in similar lines to the Reichsbank. The directorate will be exclusively German, but it will be supervised by a general council of fourteen members comprising seven German and seven appointed by America, Britain, Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Holland as creditors of the new bank.

On the politics of the Nishad community

Rama Shanker Singh

Have the votes of the Nishad community, a group under the Extremely Backward Castes, shifted from the National Democratic Alliance to the INDIA alliance? How does their political consolidation differ in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh?

A strong force: VIP president Mukesh Sahani and his supporters block a railway track during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, in Patna, in 2019. PTI-

The story so far:

In his thanksgiving speech after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that Uttar Pradesh had shown the way to the nation while referring to the success of the INDIA-alliance in the State. The INDIA-alliance was able to get more of the Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) votes as compared to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

How dominant are EBCs?

In Bihar, the recently held caste survey puts the total population of the EBCs at 36%. When combined with the Other Backward Classes (OBC), backward castes make up 63% of the total population of the State. As the CSDS-Lokniti data suggests, in 2024 the grip of the NDA parties over EBC votes has dwindled as compared to previous elections and this includes the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), the party of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has till now enjoyed staunch support from EBC voters. On the other hand, the INDIA alliance has been able to make substantial inroads into the EBC vote bank. Among the EBC communities, the Nishad community which consists of almost 20 jatis, make up about 9% of the population of the State.

In U.P, unlike in Bihar, there is no separate category for EBCs that distinguishes them from OBCs. Castes such as Yadav, Kurmi, and Patel, who are landowners and politically strong, were visible during past elections. And despite not owning land, castes like Maurya and Kushwaha were also prominent in elections. Now, the Bhar and Nishad communities have also established a significant presence in U.P. According to data from the 2001 Hukum Singh committee, OBCs make up over 50% of U.P’s population, with Yadavs being the largest group at 19.4%. Among the non-Yadav castes which make up the rest of the OBCs in the State, Kurmis and Patels represent 7.4%, Nishads, Mallahs, and Kevats 4.3%, Bhar and Rajbhars 2.4%, Lodhs 4.8%, and Jats 3.6%. However, there is no concrete caste-wise breakdown of the OBC population.

Who are the Nishads?

Nishad is an umbrella term for dozens of riverine castes in north India. After the Mandal Commission report, they started introducing themselves as ‘Nishad’, a singular political and social entity. The Nishad community, one of the politically visible but less represented groups in the electoral landscape of U.P. in the past, is now being noticed. Although there is no clear demarcation between OBC and EBCs, they are considered EBCs and have rallied behind the Akhilesh Yadav-Rahul Gandhi duo. In adjoining Bihar too, the Nishad community rallied strongly behind Mukesh Sahani, also known as ‘son of mallah’, who is a member of the INDIA-alliance and was seen campaigning along with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav.

The politics of the Nishad community has rarely seen any comparative analysis between the States of U.P. and Bihar. The fieldwork done by the authors on the Nishads took place across several districts of U.P. and Bihar such as Banda, Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Bhadohi, Chandauli etc, and Banaras, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Vaishali, Hajipur, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur.

Who did they support in U.P.?

It was found that the Nishads were drifting away from the BJP and had been mobilising for the INDIA block. In Varanasi, the female voters of the Nishad community were more comfortable with Narendra Modi in comparison to their male counterparts, but in other areas, they were more affiliated to the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress. The support for Congress among Nishads is a new phenomenon in the last two decades of U.P.’s politics. As far as the SP is concerned, it was Mulayam Singh Yadav who brought this community to the political forefront. Phoolan Devi was given a Lok Sabha ticket from the SP in 1996. She won the seat from the Mirzapur constituency in U.P. and was also later re-elected in 1999. Thus, the Congress was absent among the Nishads in these areas from 1989. But this time, one could see a formidable political faith among Nishads for Congress, especially in Banda, Chitrakoot, and Prayagraj. This was partly due to the SP-Congress alliance and partly to Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Constitution speeches’. Elders and youngsters of the community were discussing the ‘samvidhan’. This is a new takeaway from this election where the Indian Constitution is finding a social life in marginal spaces.

What about Bihar?

In Bihar, the Nishad community’s foray into electoral politics had been restricted to limited cases of representatives being promoted by different political parties such as Jai Narain Nishad in the 1990s-2000s who switched between JD(U) and BJP and Ramkaran Sahni, in the 1970s and 80s. The post-Mandal politicisation of different caste groups in Bihar was a missed opportunity by the Nishad community as its loyalty was fragmented across different parties in the absence of a strong political formation from within the community. Mukesh Sahani and his Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), since 2014, claim to be working towards the consolidation of the Nishad community as an important political force. With the caste survey of Bihar placing the community’s 22 sub-caste’s total population to be almost 10% of the State’s population, its numerical strength has assumed a new political significance. The 2024 elections saw the BJP winning the trust of the Nishad voters in Muzaffarpur, a constituency where Nishads have emerged as a ‘dominant caste’. The BJP has acknowledged this victory as a window of opportunity for further consolidation, evident from its inclusion of Muzaffarpur’s MP and first time parliamentarian, Raj Bhushan Choudhury in the Modi 3.0 Cabinet. Incidentally Mr. Choudhury contested on the same seat unsuccessfully in the 2019 parliamentary elections, but on a VIP ticket. This is also the pressing challenge faced by the VIP party in Bihar, that despite having built a decent party organisation and a good ground presence within the community, the party is unable to attract or put forward strong winnable candidates on its ticket, which reflects the paucity of leadership within the community.

What are core issues of the Nishads?

The Nishads of U.P. aspire for two things. One is rights over rivers and river produce, and the other is representation. They demand representation through the Constitution and rights by cultural means. They are fighting for rights over rivers through caste assertion, historical memory, and myths. Through Nishadraj Guha, Eklavya, Ramacharan Mallah, Phoolan Devi, and other organic leaders of the community, they try to expand their history from time immemorial to the present. They are mobilising themselves for their rights in sand mining, fishing, and plying boats. These three activities are the main source of the Nishad communities’ income.

The Nishads also increasingly assert themselves while negotiating with a confrontational state. For example, in Banswar village, Prayagraj, clashes between local Nishads and the Prayagraj administration around the issue of sand mining in the Yamuna river, resulted in the mobilisation of Nishads across eastern U.P. This incident resulted in all major political parties pursuing the community with their specific assurances. Sanjay Nishad of the Nishad Party assured action, while Priyanka Gandhi of the Congress pledged ₹10 lakh in assistance and supported the formation of a ‘Nishadraj Cooperative Society’ for sand mining. Akhilesh Yadav promised boats to Nishads if SP won in 2022.

The Nishads in Bihar have also been involved in similar struggles. The key demand of the community is their inclusion in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) in the State. After mounting pressure on the Nitish Kumar government since 2014 via several caste-based organisations, the Bihar Government got a socio-economic assessment done through ethnographic accounts of the community by the A.N. Sinha Institute to assess its claims of backwardness. The caste survey data in 2023 reinforces the socio-economic backwardness of the community, which has made their demand for reservations under the SC category more vocal.

What happened in the elections?

According to an estimate, the Nishad community influences the outcome of more than 20 parliamentary constituencies in U.P., especially in the Poorvanchal region and about 10 constituencies of Bihar, particularly in the north Bihar and Mithilanchal region. Every national and regional party active in U.P. wants the support of the community. The emergence of the Nishad Party — Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal — in 2016 hugely mobilised the community towards a single party, which has been an ally of the NDA since 2019.

While it played a role in BJP’s social engineering in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in the 2024 elections it failed. It was not given the party symbol and Praveen Nishad, the son of Sanjay Nishad, had to contest the election as a BJP candidate. He lost the Sant Kabir Nagar seat to Pappu Nishad of SP. In Bihar, although Sahani’s VIP party failed to win any of its three seats in Gopalganj, Jhanjharpur and Purvi Champaran, it was able to successfully transfer Nishad votes to the INDIA alliance in Patliputra, Arrah and Buxar. Between 1952 and 2004 in Bihar, there was only one MP from the Mallah sub-caste, two from the Noniya sub-caste and two from the Nishad sub-caste. The political mobilisation of the Nishad community aims to change this. Thus, by assessing the politics of the Nishad community in two States of the Hindi heartland, we get a sense of how different communities’ politics are playing out within the EBCs on the ground.

Sarthak Bagchi teaches at Ahmedabad University. Rama Shanker Singh is Academic Fellow at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Delhi and is author of Nadi Putra: Uttar Bhart mein Nishad aur Nadi, IIAS, 2022.

100 years of EEG: how does it work and what is its significance?

Vasudevan Mukunth

This year marks the centenary of the first human EEG, produced by German physiologist Hans Berger. EEG measures electrical activity in the brain generated by neurons. In research, scientists use EEG for neuroscience, cognitive psychology, neurolinguistics etc

Inside the brain: Researchers inject gel under the electroencephalography (EEG) cap at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) in Garching near Munich in 2014. REUTERSMICHAELA REHLE

The EEG is a marvel of physics and neurobiology that opens a simple window into the human brain. This window is often small and yet it reveals so much. But not least is the wonder that it reveals anything at all without having to break open the skull first. This year is the centenary of the first human EEG, produced by German physiologist Hans Berger.

How was the EEG invented?

Berger’s feat was preceded by incremental but significant advances across Europe from the late 19th century. In 1875, British physician Richard Caton reported evidence of electrical activity in the brains of monkeys and rabbits. Fifteen years on, his Polish peer Adolf Beck found evidence of fluctuating activity in the brains of dogs and rabbits when he stimulated their senses. In 1912, Vladimir Pravdich-Neminsky produced the first mammalian EEG, of a dog’s brain. Berger succeeded him in 1924 with the human counterpart. He is also credited with inventing the EEG, naming it, and introducing its utility in clinical settings.

What is an EEG?

EEG stands for electroencephalography. ‘Electro’ pertains to electricity; ‘encephalo’ refers to the brain; and ‘graphy’ is a suffix meaning to show or to represent. Neurons in the brain perform various functions by moving electrically charged particles such as ions. The movement of these particles gives rise to electrical activity that a health worker can use an EEG test to visualise. Researchers have also been able to relate data obtained from an EEG with different levels and modes of brain activity, and used it to distinguish reliably between normal and abnormal states.

EEG is not an uncommon diagnostic test in clinical settings. Among other applications, it is the reference standard — that is, the best test available — to diagnose epilepsy. An EEG test can also reveal the effects of anaesthesia, sleeping patterns, neurological activity during a coma, and availability of oxygen. EEG can also confirm brain death, one of the two legally recognised forms of death in India.

In research, scientists use EEG for neuroscience, cognitive psychology, neurolinguistics, neuromarketing studies and to develop brain-computer interfaces.

What is volume conduction?

EEG measures electrical activity in the brain generated by neurons. During an EEG test, a health worker will place electrodes on your scalp. There are many layers of skin, fluid, and bone between the electrodes and the neurons. When a neuron produces electrical activity, charged particles will move through all these media before reaching the electrodes, and will be reflected, refracted, scattered, etc. en route.

Volume conduction refers to the movement of electrical activity through this three-dimensional volume. It also stands for the fact that the electrical activity is produced in one place whereas the detectors that detect it are located at some distance. The raw data collected by the electrodes will first need to be corrected for the effects of volume conduction, and then for noise in the data arising from faulty electrodes and incidental physiological activity (such as blinking or muscle activity). A clinician finally interprets the processed data.

How does an EEG test work?

The neurons that make up the human brain are constantly exchanging atoms, molecules, proteins, etc. with their surroundings. Sometimes neurons will push ions out into the space between neurons. Since ions of the same charge repel each other, this ‘motion’ can push away other ions, which push away even other ions, and so on.

When a large number of neurons start this cascade at the same time, a (relatively) big wave of electrical activity flows through the brain. The electrodes on the scalp are made of metal and track the changes in voltage as the waves move past them, creating an electroencephalogram.

Where are the electrodes placed?

You can place them anywhere, but if you’re comparing notes with a scientist or want to follow clinical standards, you should follow the International 10-20 System.

In this system, the distance between two adjacent electrodes is either 10% or 20% of the total distance between two points on the head along which electrodes are being placed.

Four common points of reference are the nasion (the depression between the eyes, just above the bridge of the nose) and the inion (the crest at the back of the skull) going front to back, and from tragus to tragus going side to side. (The tragus is the small flap-like projection on the outer ear; you push it in to shut your ears when there’s a loud noise.)

What does and doesn’t EEG show?

The changes in voltage recorded at the electrodes are transmitted to a computer, which plots the readings on a graph with voltage on one axis and time passed on another. Health workers are typically interested in two types of data in the graph: the voltage (measured in millionths of a volt) and the frequency of the variations (measured in hertz). They will also factor in, among other things, the location of the neurons responsible for the electrical activity recorded by the test (for example, in the neocortex or the allocortex, the two types of cortices of the cerebral cortex).

EEG is better than other diagnostic devices at tracking relatively rapid electrical activity in the brain, in the order of milliseconds. On the downside, it is biased towards electrical signals generated closer to the surface of the cortex, and significantly so towards currents generated by neurons’ dendrites and against those generated by the axons. The process to pinpoint where some electrical activity originated within the brain, to result in some electrical data, is also less than straightforward.

To overcome these and other challenges, researchers have used EEG together with other tests, like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and have developed sophisticated data acquisition, processing, and reconstruction methods.

Are EEGs affordable?

Aside from its metrological and diagnostic abilities, an EEG setup is also relatively simple and cost-effective.

The equipment involved doesn’t take up much space, doesn’t emit high-energy radiation or sounds, doesn’t confine patients to small spaces (like MRI), is non-invasive, and is portable (the invasive version of EEG is called electrocorticography, or ECoG).

Similarly, aside from its diagnostic downsides, setting up an EEG test requires time — including applying a gel on the person’s head and placing the electrodes in precise locations according to the 10-20 System — and its readings can be affected if the person has so much as thicker hair.

U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania. A quiz on other leaders who have survived such attempts

Radhika Santhanam

Visual question: Four decades ago, a hotel bomb nearly claimed the lives of this British Prime Minister and other ministers. Name this leader and the name of the hotel.

Question 1

This leader once alleged that the U.S. wanted to topple his government. He was the first Prime Minister in his country to be removed from office through a no-confidence motion. What is the name of this man who is now in jail?

Question 2

This President was shot in the early 1900s. The bullet penetrated through a copy of his speech and his spectacle case before getting lodged in his chest. As he was not coughing blood, he continued giving his speech. He carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. Who is he?

Question 3

This leader survived at least four assassination attempts. The fear that he would be assassinated apparently kept his ministerial colleague, who later became Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, up at night. Name these two towering leaders, whose rivalry and differences in style shaped an independent nation’s trajectory.

Question 4

This leader was giving a speech at a military event when there was an assassination attempt on him. He is accused of undermining democracy and violating human rights in a country in the grip of an economic crisis. A few years ago, his country infamously had two presidents and two ‘national assemblies’. Who is he?

Question 5

This leader’s mother was the world’s first woman Prime Minister. This leader was nearly killed by a suicide bomber. Who is this leader?

Questions and Answers to the previous day’s daily quiz: 1. The place where India made its ODI debut. Ans: India made its debut in Leeds against England. The home team won by four wickets.

2. One of the two batters who scored a half-century in the match. Ans: Brijesh Patel (82)

3. These two players who figured in the match would lift the Prudential World Cup nine years later. Ans: Sunil Gavaskar and Madan Lal

4. The two members of the fabled ‘Spin Quartet’ who played in the match. Ans: Bishan Singh Bedi and S. Venkatraghavan

5. The lone Englishman to make his first appearance during the match. Ans: Robin Jackman

6. India’s first success came in the 1975 Prudential World Cup against a team which is not a regular International team now. Ans: East Africa

7. India has played the most number of matches against this team. Ans: Sri Lanka

Visual: Name this Englishman. Ans: John Edrich

Early Birds: Simran| Gulu Ezekiel| Jagdish Godara| Sadhan Kumar Panda| K.N. Viswanathan

Know your English

K. Subrahmanian

1 of 2

2 of 2

“Jargon (K. R. Shenoy, Mysore).”

“A couple of years ago, I discussed this at great length. I will explain it once again briefly. Jargon is ‘technical or specialised words used by a particular group of people and difficult for others to understand’. A linguist when talking to a fellow linguist might refer to the sound ‘p’ as a voiceless, bilabial, plosive. While this may make no sense to the layman, the fellow linguist will immediately understand what the other is trying to say. Every professional group has its own jargon. You have medical jargon, legal jargon, commercial jargon, etc. Jargon serves a purpose when it is addressed to specialists as the specialised vocabulary used will be more economical and precise than non-technical vocabulary. It should be confined to ‘the sectional vocabulary of a science, art, class, sect, trade or profession.’ Here is an example: “The relocatable machine program is turned into an executable, absolute machine code by the linker, CLINK, which also merges the user’s program, with previously compiled program files (such as the Standard C function library) if necessary.” While many of us may not understand what the author is trying to say, it won’t be a problem for a person who is in the field of computers. Jargon is normally used by people who belong to a particular professional group. It is used when they talk to one another or when they write articles for professional journals. But one thing that people should avoid is using jargon when talking to or writing for the layman. It shouldn’t be used for showing off one’s knowledge. Unfortunately, this is what is happening nowadays. People are resorting to jargon in order to impress or confuse others. And this is the reason why the word has acquired a negative connotation of late. Nowadays jargon is used by most people to refer to various kinds of verbal fuzziness. We have different kinds of jargon like journalese, commercialese, officialese, sociologese. Officialese is the special language written by bureaucrats for bureaucrats! Jargon has come to mean ‘speech or writing full of long, unfamiliar or roundabout words or phrases’! It is also marked by abstractness and purposity.”

“Chequered career (S. S. Ray, New Delhi)”

“A chequered career is a career ‘marked by periods of good and bad fortune’. It is not uniformly good or bad. Please note the spelling of ‘career.’ ‘Career’ is different from ‘carrier’. ‘Career’ means ‘profession or occupation.’ ‘Carrier’ means ‘a person or thing that carries’.”

“Educationist (L. S. Naik, Nagpur)”

“ ‘Educationist’ or ‘educationalist’ is a specialist in education. In American English, ‘educationist’ is a term of disparagement ‘for a stereotypically muddle-headed educational theorist whose dubious ideas have contributed greatly in the writer’s view — to the downfall of American education.’ When you write to an American educator don’t tell him he is a great educationist.”

Published in The Hindu on September 8, 1992.

Business

- Need a stronger aviation ecosystem to brace for 2X fleet expansion in 5-6 years

- WPI inflation soars to 16-month high

- RBI revises rules on fraud risk management

- Ashok Leyland bags ₹982-cr. order from MSRTC for Viking bus

- Bank of Maharashtra Q1 net profit surges 47% to ₹1,293 cr.

- ZEE wins shareholders’ approval to raise ₹2,000 crore

- A.O. Smith to buy HUL’s water purifier business for ₹601 cr.

- Aurobindo Pharma shares gain 3.5% on buyback plans

‘Need stronger aviation ecosystem to brace for fleet doubling in 5-6 years’

Kapil Kaul

Ground zero: To support the appetite for travel and fleet expansion plans, India also needs a solid airport infrastructure. Reuters Reuters

The privatisation of Air India leading to the transfer of its ownership by the government to Tata Sons in 2022 and the ensuing transformation plan being undertaken at the airline has triggered a strategic transformation in the country’s airline sector.

This was a remarkable milestone and the boldest reform since the second wave of liberalisation that commenced in financial year 2004. At the time of Air India’s acquisition, CAPA India had anticipated this would be a critical inflection point that would stabilise the airline system which, in turn, would have a positive impact on the entire value chain, possibly even beyond the borders of India.

Key developments

Let’s look at the key developments in the sector since 2022. Last year, Air India placed an order for a record 470 aircraft, with the option to add another 370 aircraft. The group has added 40 aircraft last year and is expecting to take delivery of five aircraft a month for the near to the medium term.

Meanwhile, India’s largest airline IndiGo, which has a fleet of about 370 aircraft with more than 980 on order, continues to grow rapidly, despite supply-chain challenges that have fettered growth plans of airlines globally.

This means the country’s airline fleet of almost 700 aircraft could double by the financial year 2030. It took the Indian industry about 90 years from the time of the first commercial flight to reach a fleet size of 700 aircraft. But the rate of growth is so strong that carriers could add a further 600-700 aircraft in just the next 5-7 years.

But, do we have the ecosystem to support this rapid expansion?

Irreversible stability

We have a solid and aggressive airline system with the size, scale, aircraft orders and strategic intent to emerge as world-class operators. Air India’s investment of $6.5 billion in its business plan is a reflection of this. IndiGo reported record profitability of approximately $1 billion in FY2024, with another year of unprecedented results expected in FY2025. Despite there being about 150 aircraft on the ground last year, domestic traffic grew by about 13% in FY2024 and international by 22%.

Dual-airport system

To support the appetite for travel as well as airline fleet expansion plans, the country also needs a solid airport infrastructure which, for the first time, is ahead of demand and there is an investment pipeline of $11 billion at various stages of implementation.

In the National Capital Region, we will have a world-class airport infrastructure in a dual airport system where Delhi International Airport Limited will grow its capacity from 100 million and reach 130-140 million passengers per annum (PPA), which will be complemented by the greenfield Noida International Airport which is likely to open by April 2025, with an eventual capacity for 70 million PPA.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region will similarly have a dual airport system within almost 12 months, which will eventually be able to handle about 145 million annual passengers.

The Adani Group is also significantly expanding capacity at its six PPP non-metro airports of Lucknow, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru and the Airports Authority of India is investing $4 billion to significantly enhance non-metro capacity. Greenfield airports are also planned in Chennai and Pune.

Policy impetus

As far as policy impetus is concerned, given the rate of growth of the aviation industry in the country skill shortages could arise across the ecosystem, but particularly with respect to technical staff such as pilots and maintenance engineers and technicians.

The shortage of pilots is a serious issue and is likely to become more acute, especially in light of the new duty and rest norms laid down by the DGCA for them, which could increase the number of pilots required by about 15%.

Training, skilling

Similarly, air-traffic controllers as well as security and safety personnel are inadequate relative to requirements. Therefore, the Budget must provide fiscal incentives for investment in skilling, training and education.

Rationalising taxes

The Budget could also look at rationalising direct and indirect taxes, which today account for almost 20% of an airline’s quarterly revenue such as through levies by States on aviation turbine fuel.

The benefits of airport privatisation have been well demonstrated in the country through access to modern and efficient infrastructure as well as the economic development unleashed for the wider geographical region, and therefore the government must fast track the privatisation of 25 airports planned under the national monetisation plan.

(The writer is CEO and Director at CAPA India)

WPI inflation soars to 16-month high

Vikas Dhoot

New Delhi

June’s food inflation surges to a 22-month peak of 8.7%, lifting overall wholesale price rise to 3.4% ; vegetable inflation climbs to 38.8% as onion prices almost double; price gains in the crude oil and natural gas category hit a nine-month high of 12.5%

Inflation in wholesale prices accelerated to a 16-month high of 3.4% in June, from May’s 2.6%, led by a spike in food inflation to a 22-month high of 8.7% and a near-doubling in manufactured products’ price gains to 1.43%.

Inflation in wholesale vegetable prices surged to a 10-month high of 38.8%, from May’s 32.4% pace, with onion and potato prices rising year-on-year by 93.4% and 66.4%, respectively.

Inflation in pulses (21.6%), paddy (12.1%), fruits (10.1%) and cereals (9.3%) were other contributors to the wholesale inflation print that lifted primary food articles inflation to 10.9%.

On a month-on-month basis, wholesale prices rose 0.4%, with the Food Index rising 2.5%, the fastest since August and more than fourfold the 0.6% pace recorded in May.

Manufactured products

By contrast, manufactured product prices rose 0.14% sequentially, the slowest in four months, while fuel and power prices remained in sequential deflation for a fourth straight month.

The rise in the Wholesale Price Index suggests that retail prices may face further upward pressures.

For producers beyond food items, a five-month peak of 9.6% inflation in minerals, and a 12.6% uptick in crude petroleum and natural gas prices, the highest in nine months, were also a major cause for concern over upward pressure on input costs.

‘Indian basket’

“The average price of the Indian basket of crude oil has been quite volatile in July so far, on the back of supply-demand mismatches, witnessing a month-on-month rise (at $86.6 a barrel up to July 11),” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at rating firm ICRA. “Higher crude oil prices might exert an upward pressure to the headline WPI inflation this month,” she added.

RBI revises rules on fraud risk management

The Hindu Bureau

MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday issued three revised master directions on fraud risk management for Regulated Entities such as commercial banks including regional rural banks and All India Financial Institutions; urban, state and central cooperative banks; and non-banking finance firms and housing finance companies.

“These master directions have been prepared based on a comprehensive review of the earlier master directions, circular and emerging issues. These master directions are principle-based and strengthen the role of the Board in overall governance and oversight of fraud risk management in the Regulated Entities (REs),” the RBI said in a circular.

Mandatory compliance

The directions mandate REs to comply with principles of natural justice in a time-bound manner before classifying persons/entities as fraud, taking into account the March 2023 Supreme Court judgment on State Bank of India versus Rajesh Agarwal.

The RBI withdrew 36 existing circulars on the subject following these revisions, to rationalise rules and to reduce compliance burden, the regulator said.

Ashok Leyland bags ₹982-cr. order from MSRTC for Viking bus

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL) said it has bagged the single largest fully built bus order for 2,104 units of Viking passenger buses from the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) at ₹982 crore.

These modern, fully built buses would be fully compliant with the latest CMVR standards and feature an AIS 153 compliant body, the leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles said in a statement.

“The buses would have the proven iGEN6 BS VI OBD II technology with 197 HP H-Series engine and rear air suspension, among other significant features,” ALL added.

Company officials said that the buses would be manufactured at ALL’s plants in Alwar and Ennore and deliveries would commence from August 2024.

Bank of Maharashtra Q1 net profit surges 47% to ₹1,293 cr.

Bank of Maharashtra reported first quarter net profit rose 46.64% to ₹1,293 crore from ₹882 crore in the year-earlier period. Operating profit for the period ended June 30, 2024 improved to ₹2,294 crore as against ₹1,863 crore in the same period last year. Net interest income grew 19.63% YoY to ₹2,799 crore. Gross advances during the quarter grew 18.99% YoY to ₹2,09,031 crore, the bank said in a filing. Total business grew by 13.43% to ₹4,76,447 crore.

ZEE wins shareholders’ approval to raise ₹2,000 crore

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEE) on Monday said it has received shareholders’ approval by postal ballot to raise up to ₹2,000 crore through issuance of securities.

The firm had sought the approval on June 14.

“The remote e-voting concluded on Monday,” ZEE informed in a filing.

A.O. Smith to buy HUL’s water purifier business for ₹601 cr.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) said on Monday it had signed an agreement to sell its water purifier business in India to A.O. Smith, a global water technology company for $72 million (₹601 crore). “This move is in line with our strategic intent to focus sharply on our core categories. Pureit provides essential water purification solutions to millions of loyal consumers, and I am confident the brand will thrive further under the ownership of A.O. Smith,” said MD Rohit Jawa.

Aurobindo Pharma shares gain 3.5% on buyback plans

Aurobindo Pharma shares ended 3.53% higher on Monday in the wake of the drugmaker on Sunday hinting at an impending buyback. The shares closed at ₹1,373.85 apiece on the BSE. In a filing, the pharmaceutical company had announced that its board would meet on July 18 to consider, among others, a proposal for buyback of the fully paid-up equity shares of the company and the matters necessary and incidental thereto.

Foreign

- J D Vance: In Trump’s footsteps

- Judge dismisses case against Trump over classified documents

- You will be seeing me play at least for a while: Rohit

J.D. Vance, following in Trump’s footsteps

Varghese K. George

The Ohio Senator, who was once a critic of Donald Trump, has transformed himself into an ardent supporter and moved to the centre stage of U.S. politics as a highly visible lawmaker; he will be among the star speakers at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee that began on Monday

Rally cry: As a strong votary of America first politics, J.D. Vance is preferred by the nationalist base of the Republican Party. AP JEFF DEAN

J.D. Vance appeared on the scene of American public life with his 2016 best-seller memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. President Barack Obama cited it while explaining the cultural and economic reasons that made the disruptive politics championed by Donald Trump appealing to the white working class. Mr. Vance, then 32, was a strong critic of Mr. Trump, who he said was unfit to be the President of the U.S. Two weeks shy of 40, Mr. Vance — now a U.S. Senator from Ohio — will be among the star speakers at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and could even become the running mate of Mr. Trump. Whether Mr. Trump chooses him or not, Mr. Vance has emerged as a frontrunner to inherit the former’s America First politics.

Mr. Vance’s book portrayed the crisis of the white working class from his personal vantage point, and in the years that followed, he presented himself as someone who overcame that crisis through faith and hard work. He was once an atheist but gradually moved towards faith and in 2019, he became a Catholic.

Defining politics

Speaking at a conservative conference in Detroit, Michigan, on June 16, he called for defining politics in terms of what it stands for, not merely what it stands against. “We stand for an American nation built by American people, American workers,” he said. “We have to see the problem and find the solution. Make more of the stuff that we need in our own country. Twenty million people who have no business to be here, are here, because of Joe Biden. The solution is to deport each one of them.”

“America is not an idea as Democrats say. Seven generations of my family, from the Civil War to the 21st century are connected to this land. We are not just an idea, this is our home. That is the single principle at stake in this election.”

In an interview with Steve Bannon, a fellow traveller, during his Senate campaign in 2022, he said: ‘I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.’

As a strong votary of America first politics Mr. Vance is preferred by the nationalist base of the Republican Party. In a straw poll at the Turning Point convention in Detroit, 43% preferred him as Vice President on Mr. Trump’s ticket, which was three times the support for the next popular candidate.

From being a strong critic of Mr. Trump, Mr. Vance transformed himself into an ardent supporter and moved to the centre stage of U.S. politics as a highly visible lawmaker. “When Donald Trump was President, there was peace around the world. Now, there is a conflict in every corner of the world,” he told the Detroit gathering. Mr. Vance presents himself as someone who is more structured, coherent and methodical than his leader.

Mr. Vance is married to Usha Chilukuri, his former Yale Law School classmate. “Like Mr. Obama, he is also a writer and a story teller,” a Democrat who served in the Obama administration said. “He’s a leader to watch.”

Judge dismisses case against Trump over classified documents

Reuters

WASHINGTON

Pay off: The judge appointed by Donald Trump ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed to his role.APGene J. Puskar

A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed the criminal case accusing Donald Trump of illegally holding onto classified documents, dealing the former President another major legal victory as the Republican seeks a return to the White House.

Florida-based U.S. District Aileen Cannon, who was nominated by Mr. Trump, ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, was unlawfully appointed to his role and did not have the authority to bring the case.

It marked another blockbuster legal victory for Mr. Trump, following the July 1 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that as a former President he enjoyed immunity from prosecution for many of his actions in office.

Prosecutors are likely to appeal the ruling. Courts in other cases have repeatedly upheld the ability of the U.S. Justice Department to appoint special counsels to handle certain politically sensitive investigations.

But Ms. Cannon’s ruling throws the future of the case, which once posed serious legal peril for Mr. Trump, into doubt. Mr. Smith is also prosecuting Mr. Trump in federal court in Washington over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, but his lawyers have not made a similar challenge to the special counsel in that case.

In the documents case, Mr. Trump was indicted on charges that he willfully retained sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago social club after leaving office and obstructed government efforts to retrieve the material.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers challenged the legal authority for Attorney General Merrick Garland’s 2022 decision to appoint Mr. Smith to lead investigations into Mr. Trump. They argued the appointment violated the U.S. Constitution because his office was not created by Congress and he was not confirmed by the Senate.

Lawyers in Mr. Smith’s office disputed Mr. Trump’s claims, arguing there was a well-settled practice of using special counsels to manage politically sensitive investigations.

You will be seeing me play at least for a while: Rohit

Press Trust of India

Dallas (USA)

Not done yet: Rohit feels he still has some years of cricket left in him.FILE PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK

India captain Rohit Sharma said he will continue to play Test and ODI cricket “at least for a while” after ending his T20 International career with a World Cup win last month.

Rohit has been on a break since the title win in the West Indies and is set to miss the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka later this month, which includes three ODIs.

“I just said it. I don’t look that far ahead. So clearly, you will be seeing me play at least for a while,” the 37-year-old said at an event here on Sunday. His statement was reiteration of a position he made clear after announcing his T20 retirement after the final in the West Indies.

Earlier this month, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had confirmed that Rohit will captain India in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle and the Champions Trophy next year in February-March.

Sports

Science

Table of Contents

The Hindu Jul 16, 2024

Regional

SC to hear petitions against passing laws as Money Bills

TNERC announces 4.83% hike in electricity tariff

Trade deficit up 9.4% even as goods exports grew in June

Will Union govt. shift education to State List, asks CM Stalin

Probe under way to find motive behind attack on Trump

Tambaram Corpn. forms special teams to check pollution along Adyar

‘The notion that only toppers can clear UPSC exam is wrong’

77 history-sheeters arrested in 2 days as part of special drive

Search on for suspects in man’s murder in R.K. Nagar

Fast track immigration system to be implemented at airport

Boy killed in road accident

Civic body likely to declare vending zones in city today

Don’t thrust products of conception on minor victims of sexual assault: HC

Jaffer Sadiq remanded in judicial custody; ED seeks 14-day custody

Allied Health Sciences College holds induction day

CM condemns Karnataka for not releasing Cauvery water

How can CCTV visuals of Armstrong’s murder be played on TV, asks judge

DVAC to probe assets of police and revenue officials involved in Thoothukudi police firing

Leaders pay tributes to former CM Kamaraj on his birth anniversary

Free breakfast scheme a component of National Education Policy: Annamalai

Will ensure that 50% quota for in-service candidates is not affected: Minister

Will Union govt. shift education to State List, asks Chief Minister

SC/ST panel issues advisory against use of ‘Chandala’

Judicial Magistrate probes killing of accused

National

SC dismisses Shivakumar’s plea to quash graft case FIR

Body of Kerala sanitation worker recovered after 46 hours

Centre to hold meet of officials from A.P., Telangana on July 24

Orange alert sounded in 5 Kerala districts as heavy rain continues

Poultry farming faces ban in Alappuzha till March 2025

‘India and Russia have doubled rupee-rouble payments in 2024’

Two stealth frigates being built in Russia set to be delivered soon

Existing structure at M.P.’s Bhojshala complex was built using remains of temple: ASI

Priests in Uttarakhand miffed over construction of Kedarnath temple in Delhi

Probe under way to find motive behind attack

Vikram Misri takes over as India’s 35th Foreign Secretary

SC to hear pleas against passing laws as Money Bills

Trade deficit widens 9.4%, imports outpace exports

Police file chargesheet in security breach case

Congress welcomes SC’s decision on Money Bills

Officers loyal to Opposition parties harming NDA in U.P.: Sanjay Nishad

Revert to old method of recruiting staff for tribal schools: Brinda

Kejriwal lost just 2 kg, AAP is misleading people: jail officials

Hindenburg report: SC rejects plea to review January verdict

Remark on Raj Bhavan not defamatory: Mamata to HC

India to host 2nd Asia Pacific conference on civil aviation

Cong. slams BJP’s ‘Rahul backs violence against PM’ remark

Days after taking charge, Hemant Soren calls on Modi

ICAR to release 323 new varieties of 56 crops today

Panel reprimands Odisha govt. for building violation in forest land

14228

Pune Police book parents of controversial IAS officer in a land dispute case

Web of desires

Maoist leader becomes Ph.D. scholar in Bengal

NEET-UG row: top court issues notice on NTA plea

Amit Shah assures Assam, Gujarat and U.P. of flood aid

CJI agrees to consider listing plea by Vodafone-Idea

Gorakhpur-bound train catches fire near Mumbai

Edit

‘Big brother’ to ‘Brother’, a Nepal-India reset

The Union Budget as litmus test of a rethink or stasis

Dodging bullets

Back to the future

letters to the editor

Among party-hopping defectors, 89% fielded again, 70% re-elected

The toll that extreme heat takes on women

From ghost city to model city

Army seizes power in Cyprus: Fate of Makarios not known

New German Gold Bank

On the politics of the Nishad community

100 years of EEG: how does it work and what is its significance?

U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania. A quiz on other leaders who have survived such attempts

Know your English

Business

Need a stronger aviation ecosystem to brace for 2X fleet expansion in 5-6 years

WPI inflation soars to 16-month high

RBI revises rules on fraud risk management

Ashok Leyland bags ₹982-cr. order from MSRTC for Viking bus

Bank of Maharashtra Q1 net profit surges 47% to ₹1,293 cr.

ZEE wins shareholders’ approval to raise ₹2,000 crore

A.O. Smith to buy HUL’s water purifier business for ₹601 cr.

Aurobindo Pharma shares gain 3.5% on buyback plans

Foreign

J D Vance: In Trump’s footsteps

Judge dismisses case against Trump over classified documents

You will be seeing me play at least for a while: Rohit