Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. The first phase of elections in Bihar saw a record 57% turnout, with women actually turning out in larger numbers than men.
2. As many as 25 writers have returned awards from the Sahitya Akademi, with three even quitting posts in the institution, to protest growing intolerance in the country.
3. India's factory output accelerated to 6.4% in August, a significant jump from the 4.1% growth seen in the month before, on the back of the mining and manufacturing sectors.
The Big Story: Ink-redible India
The growth of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra is an existential concern for its ally, the Shiv Sena, with whom it runs the state government. Those anxieties became very public and graphic on Monday, when Sena activists threw black paint at Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former BJP strategist, who was organising a book launch in Mumbai that evening for a former Pakistani foreign minister. Kulkarni, the chairman of the Observer Research Foundation that was hosting the event, didn't wash the paint off his face for much of the day and gave repeated TV interviews about the crushing of dissent, even as political leaders from across the spectrum condemned the Sena's actions.
As the day progressed, reports suggested that the Sena was willing to take back its protest, even though party leaders described the protest as "democratic and historic." The event went off without incident under a heavy security cover, but whispers are emerging of a directive from Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to his ministers in the Maharashtra government telling them to resign. It wouldn't be all that surprising: The two parties have squabbled from the start of their latest alliance and are both courting the same constituencies.
While the fighting might be natural, the result is a Mumbai that appears even more parochial and close-minded than ever. Right before the paint-hurlining incident, the Sena ensured that a concert featuring a legendary Pakistani ghazal singer was called off and the party, which flirted with acceptability last year, has become even more belligerent about its parochialism. There's worse news for Mumbaikars who hope for an open city that can attract visitors and investment: With municipal elections on the horizon over the next two years, the political squabbling isn't going away anytime soon.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Read an excerpt from Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove, the book that the Shiv Sena wanted to prevent from being launched. Check out Aditya Thackeray's defence of the ink-staining incident, as a response to a letter from Rajdeep Sardesai asking him how exactly going after soft targets amounts to defending Marathi pride.
Politicking & Policying
1. Former special prosecutor Rohini Sailan has named the National Investigation Agency officer who allegedly told her to go soft on the accused in a Hindu terror case.
2. The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to explain why it hasn't brought in a Uniform Civil Code that would put all religions on par legally.
3. Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma continues his ridiculous-comments spree, saying this time that he'll only be worried about writers complaining when they stop writing.
4. YSR Congress president VS Jaganmohan Reddy is in the sixth day of his fast to demand Special Category status for the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, with authorities potentially looking to shift him due to health concerns.
5. The Department of Personnel and Training has rejected Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's request to depute an officer to be chief of the Indian Institute for Media and Communication.
Punditry
1. C Raja Mohan in the Indian Express examines Narendra Modi's record on dealing with South Asian neighbours and finds it lacking, despite the initial momentum.
2. We might be seeing it, but Indian agriculture is slowly getting a little more drought resilient, writes Surinder Sud in the Business Standard.
3. The facade of democracy gets thinner and thinner as Pakistan's army claims even more of the public sphere, writes Christophe Jaffrelot in the Indian Express.
Don't Miss
Mridula Chari and Aarefa Johari examine the hopelessness that Marathwada's migrants encounter when they move to the city to escape drought.
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1. The first phase of elections in Bihar saw a record 57% turnout, with women actually turning out in larger numbers than men.
2. As many as 25 writers have returned awards from the Sahitya Akademi, with three even quitting posts in the institution, to protest growing intolerance in the country.
3. India's factory output accelerated to 6.4% in August, a significant jump from the 4.1% growth seen in the month before, on the back of the mining and manufacturing sectors.
The Big Story: Ink-redible India
The growth of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra is an existential concern for its ally, the Shiv Sena, with whom it runs the state government. Those anxieties became very public and graphic on Monday, when Sena activists threw black paint at Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former BJP strategist, who was organising a book launch in Mumbai that evening for a former Pakistani foreign minister. Kulkarni, the chairman of the Observer Research Foundation that was hosting the event, didn't wash the paint off his face for much of the day and gave repeated TV interviews about the crushing of dissent, even as political leaders from across the spectrum condemned the Sena's actions.
As the day progressed, reports suggested that the Sena was willing to take back its protest, even though party leaders described the protest as "democratic and historic." The event went off without incident under a heavy security cover, but whispers are emerging of a directive from Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to his ministers in the Maharashtra government telling them to resign. It wouldn't be all that surprising: The two parties have squabbled from the start of their latest alliance and are both courting the same constituencies.
While the fighting might be natural, the result is a Mumbai that appears even more parochial and close-minded than ever. Right before the paint-hurlining incident, the Sena ensured that a concert featuring a legendary Pakistani ghazal singer was called off and the party, which flirted with acceptability last year, has become even more belligerent about its parochialism. There's worse news for Mumbaikars who hope for an open city that can attract visitors and investment: With municipal elections on the horizon over the next two years, the political squabbling isn't going away anytime soon.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Read an excerpt from Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove, the book that the Shiv Sena wanted to prevent from being launched. Check out Aditya Thackeray's defence of the ink-staining incident, as a response to a letter from Rajdeep Sardesai asking him how exactly going after soft targets amounts to defending Marathi pride.
Politicking & Policying
1. Former special prosecutor Rohini Sailan has named the National Investigation Agency officer who allegedly told her to go soft on the accused in a Hindu terror case.
2. The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to explain why it hasn't brought in a Uniform Civil Code that would put all religions on par legally.
3. Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma continues his ridiculous-comments spree, saying this time that he'll only be worried about writers complaining when they stop writing.
4. YSR Congress president VS Jaganmohan Reddy is in the sixth day of his fast to demand Special Category status for the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, with authorities potentially looking to shift him due to health concerns.
5. The Department of Personnel and Training has rejected Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's request to depute an officer to be chief of the Indian Institute for Media and Communication.
Punditry
1. C Raja Mohan in the Indian Express examines Narendra Modi's record on dealing with South Asian neighbours and finds it lacking, despite the initial momentum.
2. We might be seeing it, but Indian agriculture is slowly getting a little more drought resilient, writes Surinder Sud in the Business Standard.
3. The facade of democracy gets thinner and thinner as Pakistan's army claims even more of the public sphere, writes Christophe Jaffrelot in the Indian Express.
Don't Miss
Mridula Chari and Aarefa Johari examine the hopelessness that Marathwada's migrants encounter when they move to the city to escape drought.
“We may be from the Dhangar caste, but no one in our family has done toilet-cleaning work before. This has been hard for us,” said Hale, who did manage to send her son Rs 4,000 saved over the past few months. “But we fear that one day they might just replace us. After all, at least 10 new migrants come knocking for work at the factory every day.”