Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. The much-awaited Bibek Debroy committee report on the restructuring of the Indian Railways, which will be tabled on Friday, recommends the entry of private players into passenger rail among other novel suggestions, while calling for the Rail Budget to be scrapped.
2. Swiss food and beverage giant Nestlé has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court claiming the Indian government acted hastily in banning its noodle brand Maggi, without fulfilling all the stipulations in law.
The Big Story: Chest-Thumping Injuries
Following the government's chest-thumping over the Myanmar cross-border operation, where it was claimed that up to 100 militants may have been killed, unnamed official sources tell reporters from the Indian Express that only seven bodies were recovered, with less than a dozen injured. On other fronts, the government has begun to pull back from its triumphalism over what was ostensibly supposed to be a covert attack, especially since there has been plenty of pushback from various quarters, not just the militants themselves but the Myanmarese government.
Meanwhile, the home ministry has alerted states in the North East about around 20 militants crossing the border from Myanmar into India to take revenge for the Indian Army's operation. The government is attempting to prepare a plan for how to deal with the heightened state of affairs in the region at the moment, with the messaging clearly implying that additional attacks cannot be ruled out.
Events have proven to be somewhat similar to the "terror boat" incident, where the Coast Guard successfully intercepted a suspicious boat off the coast of Gujarat last year, and the government immediately attempted to spin it as a successful anti-terror operation. Later details, however, revealed it may just have been a drug smuggling operation. That operation, just like this one, was successful in its limited scope but the messaging from the government that followed it brought much more scrutiny, local and from India's neighbours, and ended up making the government look bad, despite its achievements. The same script seems to be playing out here.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Trumpeting the fact that India entered Myanmar’s territory might make it more difficult to carry out similar operations in the future. In addition, the reason why the government decided to deliberate leak details of the operation.
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. The Bharatiya Janata Party has begun its campaign for Bihar elections, with Thursday's announcement that former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is now part of the National Democratic Alliance.
2. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has begun a public relations outreach across the state, concerned that, with state elections not far away, he needs to work harder on messaging the achievements of a government that has come under severe criticism for failing to maintain law and order, among other issues.
3. Rains in the Eastern Himalayas, which have already displaced tens of thousands in Assam, have now cut off Arunachal Pradesh from the rest of the country.
Punditry
1. Pratap Bhanu Mehta in the Indian Express says that while the cross-border operation might have been professional, the government's chest-thumping in the aftermath is counter-productive, allowing us to cast shadows over our own achievements.
2. Exaggerated negative action against international companies like Nestlé will erode the enthusiasm businesses have for India, writes T Thomas in the Business Standard.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh was even more landmark than we realise, since it went someway towards changing the way the two nations see each other and how the world sees their ties, writes Dipankar De Sarkar in Mint. "
Don't Miss
Karan Shreshta writes of the trauma, misery and humour he found after he rushed home to Nepal following the massive earthquake earlier this year.
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1. The much-awaited Bibek Debroy committee report on the restructuring of the Indian Railways, which will be tabled on Friday, recommends the entry of private players into passenger rail among other novel suggestions, while calling for the Rail Budget to be scrapped.
2. Swiss food and beverage giant Nestlé has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court claiming the Indian government acted hastily in banning its noodle brand Maggi, without fulfilling all the stipulations in law.
The Big Story: Chest-Thumping Injuries
Following the government's chest-thumping over the Myanmar cross-border operation, where it was claimed that up to 100 militants may have been killed, unnamed official sources tell reporters from the Indian Express that only seven bodies were recovered, with less than a dozen injured. On other fronts, the government has begun to pull back from its triumphalism over what was ostensibly supposed to be a covert attack, especially since there has been plenty of pushback from various quarters, not just the militants themselves but the Myanmarese government.
Meanwhile, the home ministry has alerted states in the North East about around 20 militants crossing the border from Myanmar into India to take revenge for the Indian Army's operation. The government is attempting to prepare a plan for how to deal with the heightened state of affairs in the region at the moment, with the messaging clearly implying that additional attacks cannot be ruled out.
Events have proven to be somewhat similar to the "terror boat" incident, where the Coast Guard successfully intercepted a suspicious boat off the coast of Gujarat last year, and the government immediately attempted to spin it as a successful anti-terror operation. Later details, however, revealed it may just have been a drug smuggling operation. That operation, just like this one, was successful in its limited scope but the messaging from the government that followed it brought much more scrutiny, local and from India's neighbours, and ended up making the government look bad, despite its achievements. The same script seems to be playing out here.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Trumpeting the fact that India entered Myanmar’s territory might make it more difficult to carry out similar operations in the future. In addition, the reason why the government decided to deliberate leak details of the operation.
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. The Bharatiya Janata Party has begun its campaign for Bihar elections, with Thursday's announcement that former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is now part of the National Democratic Alliance.
2. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has begun a public relations outreach across the state, concerned that, with state elections not far away, he needs to work harder on messaging the achievements of a government that has come under severe criticism for failing to maintain law and order, among other issues.
3. Rains in the Eastern Himalayas, which have already displaced tens of thousands in Assam, have now cut off Arunachal Pradesh from the rest of the country.
Punditry
1. Pratap Bhanu Mehta in the Indian Express says that while the cross-border operation might have been professional, the government's chest-thumping in the aftermath is counter-productive, allowing us to cast shadows over our own achievements.
2. Exaggerated negative action against international companies like Nestlé will erode the enthusiasm businesses have for India, writes T Thomas in the Business Standard.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh was even more landmark than we realise, since it went someway towards changing the way the two nations see each other and how the world sees their ties, writes Dipankar De Sarkar in Mint. "
Don't Miss
Karan Shreshta writes of the trauma, misery and humour he found after he rushed home to Nepal following the massive earthquake earlier this year.
It was the second quake that broke the people’s spirit. A shadow was cast and everybody was suffering in its gloom. If you walked down the busiest streets, it would be hard to catch a smile on the faces. Everyone was living outdoors again and many were constantly on the edge. A friend’s sister was so petrified she couldn’t enter her own house for almost a week. Another’s mother kept staring at a glass of water. A friend’s father stayed awake night after night, he was later diagnosed with depression. A neighbour went around telling everyone to remain outside because another big quake was going to hit. If you questioned the source of information, she’d say it was her intuition. But people still huddled together out of fear.
