Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. A nationwide strike by 10 trade unions protesting what they see as "anti-labour reforms" crippled life in many states on Wednesday.
2. Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said on Wednesday that deflation is a far greater concern than inflation for India, after poor GDP results in the June quarter.
3. The Bharatiya Janata Party has yet to settle on its seat-sharing formula in Bihar, and is now insisting that it will contest 160 seats of the 243 in the upcoming elections.
The Big Story: Tail wagging the dog?
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is, by its own admission, a "social organisation" . It's just that it is the only social organisation in India that can summon the entire parliamentary board of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is currently running this country, for a three-day summit to explain what it is doing. The summit, ostensibly to improve coordination between the two Hindutva entities, began on Wednesday with top Union ministers and BJP leaders in attendance, reportedly making presentations to the RSS leadership about their plans.
On the agenda are issues as varied as the One Rank One Pension demand of the military ex-servicemen to the Patel agitation in Gujarat for reservations, which many see as instigated by the RSS, to the BJP's U-turn on the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill. The opening day was spent on economic issues. The Indian Express reported that ministers and BJP President Amit Shah were present to answer the questions of the RSS. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to join on the third day.
The meeting has been sharply criticised by many outside the Sangh Parivar. The standard RSS response is that there's nothing new about it (which seems to mean that it should therefore be okay), since similar summits take place twice a year. It isn't that unusual to have politicians bow down to the special interest that brought them to power. But the sight of the entire Parliamentary Board and Cabinet being trotted out for questioning by a social organisation is nevertheless an odd feature of Indian democracy if not a troubling one.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Earlier this year, the RSS' headquarters in Nagpur was flooded with complaints about the Modi government's performance. There may be indications that Modi is working to end the BJP's dependence on the RSS, which has caused concerns in the latter about a "personality cult" in the political party.
Politicking & Policying
1. The government might this week unveil a unilateral deal on the One Rank One Pension matter, with negotiations seemingly stuck, in order to avoid coming too close to the model code of conduct that will be in place for the Bihar elections.
2. The will-he-won't-he stories about Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi taking the baton from his mother are back, as a report now claiming the Congress Working Committee will meet on September 8 to chalk out plans.
3. Despite three rounds of inter-ministerial consultations, the Seeds Bill has been put in cold storage because a clause relating to use of genetically modified seeds could end up being seen as anti-farmer.
4. The Bharatiya Janata Party's allies in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir will have to decide whether to accede to the Centre's request to transfer the Gurdaspur and Udhampur terror cases to the National Investigation Agency.
5. The number of inviolate coal blocks where mining will be banned is set to come down from 206 to 35 once the environment ministry dilutes its parameters for important forests, report Nitin Sethi and Subhayan Chakraborty in the Business Standard.
Punditry
1. Bibek Debroy in the Indian Express writes of a schooling initiative in Bhubhaneshwar that using an interesting cross-subsidisation model to teach the tribal community's children.
2. A fundamental problem of India's telecom industry is low spectrum availability, writes Shyam Ponappa in the Business Standard, saying this is what is causing call drops.
3. Our education system is profoundly authoritarian, writes Rohit Dhankar in the Hindu, calling for a learning continuum that isn't structure on rigid lines.
Don't Miss
Janaki Lenin explains how clashes between farmers and monkeys in north India are rising, with no solution in sight.
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1. A nationwide strike by 10 trade unions protesting what they see as "anti-labour reforms" crippled life in many states on Wednesday.
2. Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said on Wednesday that deflation is a far greater concern than inflation for India, after poor GDP results in the June quarter.
3. The Bharatiya Janata Party has yet to settle on its seat-sharing formula in Bihar, and is now insisting that it will contest 160 seats of the 243 in the upcoming elections.
The Big Story: Tail wagging the dog?
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is, by its own admission, a "social organisation" . It's just that it is the only social organisation in India that can summon the entire parliamentary board of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is currently running this country, for a three-day summit to explain what it is doing. The summit, ostensibly to improve coordination between the two Hindutva entities, began on Wednesday with top Union ministers and BJP leaders in attendance, reportedly making presentations to the RSS leadership about their plans.
On the agenda are issues as varied as the One Rank One Pension demand of the military ex-servicemen to the Patel agitation in Gujarat for reservations, which many see as instigated by the RSS, to the BJP's U-turn on the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill. The opening day was spent on economic issues. The Indian Express reported that ministers and BJP President Amit Shah were present to answer the questions of the RSS. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to join on the third day.
The meeting has been sharply criticised by many outside the Sangh Parivar. The standard RSS response is that there's nothing new about it (which seems to mean that it should therefore be okay), since similar summits take place twice a year. It isn't that unusual to have politicians bow down to the special interest that brought them to power. But the sight of the entire Parliamentary Board and Cabinet being trotted out for questioning by a social organisation is nevertheless an odd feature of Indian democracy if not a troubling one.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Earlier this year, the RSS' headquarters in Nagpur was flooded with complaints about the Modi government's performance. There may be indications that Modi is working to end the BJP's dependence on the RSS, which has caused concerns in the latter about a "personality cult" in the political party.
Politicking & Policying
1. The government might this week unveil a unilateral deal on the One Rank One Pension matter, with negotiations seemingly stuck, in order to avoid coming too close to the model code of conduct that will be in place for the Bihar elections.
2. The will-he-won't-he stories about Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi taking the baton from his mother are back, as a report now claiming the Congress Working Committee will meet on September 8 to chalk out plans.
3. Despite three rounds of inter-ministerial consultations, the Seeds Bill has been put in cold storage because a clause relating to use of genetically modified seeds could end up being seen as anti-farmer.
4. The Bharatiya Janata Party's allies in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir will have to decide whether to accede to the Centre's request to transfer the Gurdaspur and Udhampur terror cases to the National Investigation Agency.
5. The number of inviolate coal blocks where mining will be banned is set to come down from 206 to 35 once the environment ministry dilutes its parameters for important forests, report Nitin Sethi and Subhayan Chakraborty in the Business Standard.
Punditry
1. Bibek Debroy in the Indian Express writes of a schooling initiative in Bhubhaneshwar that using an interesting cross-subsidisation model to teach the tribal community's children.
2. A fundamental problem of India's telecom industry is low spectrum availability, writes Shyam Ponappa in the Business Standard, saying this is what is causing call drops.
3. Our education system is profoundly authoritarian, writes Rohit Dhankar in the Hindu, calling for a learning continuum that isn't structure on rigid lines.
Don't Miss
Janaki Lenin explains how clashes between farmers and monkeys in north India are rising, with no solution in sight.
Some activists identify the loss of forest habitat as the primary cause of conflict, but this is not accurate. Primatologists describe rhesus and bonnet macaques as being “commensal” with humans, meaning that they benefit from people without affecting them. Perhaps the term was first used when these primates sporadically visited farmlands, snatched a mouthful here and there, and disappeared. But given the scale of loss today, ‘commensalism’ is difficult to support.