Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. The Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan, demanding a 5% quota in government jobs by occupying the railway tracks, has been called off after the state government said the reservation would become a reality.
2. Ex-servicemen of India's armed forces have decided to boycott government functions to protest the decision not to implement the One Rank One Pension scheme, despite the BJP's promises to do so.
3. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a draconian law that is often seen as a shield for the army to do as it likes, has been withdrawn from Tripura after nearly two decades.
The Big Story: Mamata on board
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Bangladesh in June, to complete the process of signing a historic Land Border Agreement, will see him accompanied by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India has also said that there are expectations that the Teesta water-sharing issue, involving a river that runs through both countries, will come up. The Teesta deal has been stuck for some time now, partly because of Banerjee's objections.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited West Bengal last week to offer money and other political incentives to Banerjee to ensure she will be on board, visiting Bangladesh for the boundary agreement signing as well as allowing the two countries to move forward on the Teesta deal. This is likely to mean a financial package offered by the Centre to the state in return for the money lost because of the water sharing.
Closer relations between Modi and the Trinamool Congress wouldn't hurt in Parliament either. The TMC currently has 12 members in the Rajya Sabha and 34 members in the Lok Sabha, making it one of the biggest parties outside the National Democratic Alliance in Parliament – one that could offer Modi a significant amount of support for legislation.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Thousands of crores and one Parliament session: here's how Modi and Mamata stopped being enemies.
To get Scroll's Daily Fix, a compendium of all you need to know for the day (and a little more) on your phone, download our Android app.
Politicking & Policying
1. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has decided to politicise a meeting of prime ministers, calling Narendra Modi's interaction with Manmohan Singh this week a "paathshala" (schooling) on how to run the Indian economy.
2. The health ministry has issued a circular asking all bureaucrats of under-secretary level and above to turn up for a Modi-led Yoga Day session at Rajpath on June 21.
3. The battle between the Delhi government and the Centre over the state's powers is in both the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court today.
4. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's visit to meet the governor of Uttar Pradesh with a list of nominated members for the Legislative Council fueled some political speculation, but became more evident when Governor Ram Naik returned the list.
Punditry
1. Pratap Bhanu Mehta in the Indian Express writes an obituary for KC Sivaramakrishnan, former IAS officer and one of the last great Nehruvians.
2. There is the potential for creating a national market for agricultural commodities that would unify the hundreds that currently exist but it would require all the states to come on board, write DS Kolamkar and Arvind Subramanian in the Business Standard.
3. Romila Thapar in the Hindu, writes how the proposed standardisation of the university syllabus will turn them into coaching shops.
Don't Miss
Sandhya Ravishankar speaks to the queen of Mysore on the controversy over her adoptive son who was anointed the titular maharaja of Mysore this week.
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1. The Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan, demanding a 5% quota in government jobs by occupying the railway tracks, has been called off after the state government said the reservation would become a reality.
2. Ex-servicemen of India's armed forces have decided to boycott government functions to protest the decision not to implement the One Rank One Pension scheme, despite the BJP's promises to do so.
3. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a draconian law that is often seen as a shield for the army to do as it likes, has been withdrawn from Tripura after nearly two decades.
The Big Story: Mamata on board
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Bangladesh in June, to complete the process of signing a historic Land Border Agreement, will see him accompanied by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India has also said that there are expectations that the Teesta water-sharing issue, involving a river that runs through both countries, will come up. The Teesta deal has been stuck for some time now, partly because of Banerjee's objections.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited West Bengal last week to offer money and other political incentives to Banerjee to ensure she will be on board, visiting Bangladesh for the boundary agreement signing as well as allowing the two countries to move forward on the Teesta deal. This is likely to mean a financial package offered by the Centre to the state in return for the money lost because of the water sharing.
Closer relations between Modi and the Trinamool Congress wouldn't hurt in Parliament either. The TMC currently has 12 members in the Rajya Sabha and 34 members in the Lok Sabha, making it one of the biggest parties outside the National Democratic Alliance in Parliament – one that could offer Modi a significant amount of support for legislation.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Thousands of crores and one Parliament session: here's how Modi and Mamata stopped being enemies.
To get Scroll's Daily Fix, a compendium of all you need to know for the day (and a little more) on your phone, download our Android app.
Politicking & Policying
1. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has decided to politicise a meeting of prime ministers, calling Narendra Modi's interaction with Manmohan Singh this week a "paathshala" (schooling) on how to run the Indian economy.
2. The health ministry has issued a circular asking all bureaucrats of under-secretary level and above to turn up for a Modi-led Yoga Day session at Rajpath on June 21.
3. The battle between the Delhi government and the Centre over the state's powers is in both the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court today.
4. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's visit to meet the governor of Uttar Pradesh with a list of nominated members for the Legislative Council fueled some political speculation, but became more evident when Governor Ram Naik returned the list.
Punditry
1. Pratap Bhanu Mehta in the Indian Express writes an obituary for KC Sivaramakrishnan, former IAS officer and one of the last great Nehruvians.
2. There is the potential for creating a national market for agricultural commodities that would unify the hundreds that currently exist but it would require all the states to come on board, write DS Kolamkar and Arvind Subramanian in the Business Standard.
3. Romila Thapar in the Hindu, writes how the proposed standardisation of the university syllabus will turn them into coaching shops.
Don't Miss
Sandhya Ravishankar speaks to the queen of Mysore on the controversy over her adoptive son who was anointed the titular maharaja of Mysore this week.
Playing the role of family head has not been easy in a clan that has a tradition that goes back almost 600 years. After her husband passing, Pramodadevi said that she had to take up the enormous job of looking after the clan's Mysore and Bangalore properties, matters in which she had not previously involved herself. Some of them were mired in complex litigations. “Many people laughed, thinking that I would not be able to handle it,” said Pramodadevi. “I decided I would learn – and I did. We have made some progress in many of the cases against us.”