Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. Greece continues to remain right on the economic brink, with potential risks for the Indian rupee, for exports and on global stock markets if the insolvent country has to exit the Euro zone.
2. The Moody's investor service has struck a cautious note about India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying there is a growing risk of stagnation and disappointment about the pace of reforms.
3. IndiGo, India's largest and most profitable airline, has filed the documents for a Rs 2,500 crore initial public offering, among a number of other companies that are hoping to do the same.
The Big Story: Congress Confusion
The Congress party has gone hammer-and-tongs at the government over the "LalitGate" revelations, involving alleged impropriety between Indian Premier League founder and accused money launderer Lalit Modi and two major ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party. At different times, the Congress has asked for an apology, an explanation and resignations from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, both of whom are alleged to have assisted Modi with getting travel documents, though he is wanted in India.
Now the party is even considering making a straight-up offer to the government, which is desperate to have some legislative successes in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament. The offer, reported based on unnamed sources by the Times of India, suggests the Congress will support the Goods and Services Tax Bill in return for the resignations of Swaraj and Raje.
But not everyone, in the Opposition or even in the Congress, is certain about this. According to the Indian Express, many in the party have been concerned by the recent shift in attack from the Lalit Modi connections to Raje's ownership of hotels in Rajasthan. Others in the broader Opposition have also suggested they wouldn't want to see Swaraj resign, while some have even defended Raje. What's clear is the Opposition has the leverage to properly take on the government for the first time in its tenure. What's unclear is what it will ask for in return.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Creator of "the best thing since Independence": Discover the fluffy worlds of Lalit Modi's online persona. Also, why did Lalit Modi drag in Vasundhara Raje into a mess that was only #SwarajGate till then? And is the BJP defending Vasundhara Raje only because it's afraid of what would happen without her?
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. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa won her by-poll election by a massive margin, following her return to public life thanks to being acquitted in a Disproportionate Assets case dating back to the 1990s.
2. All six ruling parties contesting in by-polls managed to pick up their seats in various parts of the country according to results on Tuesday, with the most interesting being the Congress victory in Aruvikkara in Kerala, beating out the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
3. Despite coming in third, the BJP will actually count this as a positive election, considering it saw a five-fold jump in vote share.
4. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had to do some damage control in his party, the National Conference, after it appeared to split into two camps over the party's official statement criticising separatist-turned-minister Sajad Lone.
5. The sting operaton on Maharashtra Member of Legislative Assembly Raj Purohit has laid bare the power tussle between him and state BJP vice president Mangal Prabhat Lodha.
Punditry
1. Jean Dreze in the Indian Express writes that the impression that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is just a makeshift option is false, pointing out research that suggests genuine successes and returns from the labour.
2. The rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala should serve as a real warning sign for the Left, which has seen the saffron party grab much of its vote share in West Bengal as well, writes Rajesh Ramachandran in the Economic Times.
3. Motor Act Tribunals rarely dole out a "just" compensation for widows, children and other victims of traffic accidents, because the formula to calculate compensation is riddled with problems, writes MJ Antony in the Business Standard.
Don't Miss
Sagar Godbole tells us why you can teach "Hot Yoga" but not "Flying Bird Yoga" or "Yogatree".
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1. Greece continues to remain right on the economic brink, with potential risks for the Indian rupee, for exports and on global stock markets if the insolvent country has to exit the Euro zone.
2. The Moody's investor service has struck a cautious note about India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying there is a growing risk of stagnation and disappointment about the pace of reforms.
3. IndiGo, India's largest and most profitable airline, has filed the documents for a Rs 2,500 crore initial public offering, among a number of other companies that are hoping to do the same.
The Big Story: Congress Confusion
The Congress party has gone hammer-and-tongs at the government over the "LalitGate" revelations, involving alleged impropriety between Indian Premier League founder and accused money launderer Lalit Modi and two major ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party. At different times, the Congress has asked for an apology, an explanation and resignations from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, both of whom are alleged to have assisted Modi with getting travel documents, though he is wanted in India.
Now the party is even considering making a straight-up offer to the government, which is desperate to have some legislative successes in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament. The offer, reported based on unnamed sources by the Times of India, suggests the Congress will support the Goods and Services Tax Bill in return for the resignations of Swaraj and Raje.
But not everyone, in the Opposition or even in the Congress, is certain about this. According to the Indian Express, many in the party have been concerned by the recent shift in attack from the Lalit Modi connections to Raje's ownership of hotels in Rajasthan. Others in the broader Opposition have also suggested they wouldn't want to see Swaraj resign, while some have even defended Raje. What's clear is the Opposition has the leverage to properly take on the government for the first time in its tenure. What's unclear is what it will ask for in return.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Creator of "the best thing since Independence": Discover the fluffy worlds of Lalit Modi's online persona. Also, why did Lalit Modi drag in Vasundhara Raje into a mess that was only #SwarajGate till then? And is the BJP defending Vasundhara Raje only because it's afraid of what would happen without her?
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. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa won her by-poll election by a massive margin, following her return to public life thanks to being acquitted in a Disproportionate Assets case dating back to the 1990s.
2. All six ruling parties contesting in by-polls managed to pick up their seats in various parts of the country according to results on Tuesday, with the most interesting being the Congress victory in Aruvikkara in Kerala, beating out the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
3. Despite coming in third, the BJP will actually count this as a positive election, considering it saw a five-fold jump in vote share.
4. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had to do some damage control in his party, the National Conference, after it appeared to split into two camps over the party's official statement criticising separatist-turned-minister Sajad Lone.
5. The sting operaton on Maharashtra Member of Legislative Assembly Raj Purohit has laid bare the power tussle between him and state BJP vice president Mangal Prabhat Lodha.
Punditry
1. Jean Dreze in the Indian Express writes that the impression that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is just a makeshift option is false, pointing out research that suggests genuine successes and returns from the labour.
2. The rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala should serve as a real warning sign for the Left, which has seen the saffron party grab much of its vote share in West Bengal as well, writes Rajesh Ramachandran in the Economic Times.
3. Motor Act Tribunals rarely dole out a "just" compensation for widows, children and other victims of traffic accidents, because the formula to calculate compensation is riddled with problems, writes MJ Antony in the Business Standard.
Don't Miss
Sagar Godbole tells us why you can teach "Hot Yoga" but not "Flying Bird Yoga" or "Yogatree".
The law is thus clear that even if you are (or claim to be) a great yogi, you can only copyright your book on yoga but cannot get any copyright over the yoga postures or asanas themselves. Or in other words, you can stop people from copying without permission the text, photos or illustrations contained in your books but you can’t stop them from performing yoga.