Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. The Smriti Irani-led human resource development ministry has suddenly demanded that the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, which conducts the ICSE and the ISC examinations, supply evidence to justify its existence.
2. The Kerala Vishwa Hindu Parishad has condemned the police raid on Delhi's Kerala House and supported the establishment's right to serve beef.
3. The Supreme Court refused to ban fireworks for Diwali, saying that bursting crackers was a right.
4. Union minister for culture Mahesh Sharma – who sought to justify the Dadri lynching as an “accident” – has just been allotted a sprawling Lutyen’s bungalow which was once occupied by President Kalam.
The Big Story: Nepal China bhai-bhai
China has agreed to supply Nepal with petroleum products, thus providing relief for the landlocked nation facing massive fuel shortages caused by an unofficial blockade by India.
"Nepal Oil Corporation and China National United Fuel Corporation formalised a long-term commercial agreement in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon," a senior Nepali bureaucrat told the Times of India.
In two separate agreements, China has promised to give a one-off 1,000 metric tonnes of petroleum products as grant and signed a memorandum of understanding for petroleum supply, reports the Hindustan Times.
Delhi will wait and watch for the move to materialise on the ground. Given the difficult terrain between Nepal and China and the upcoming winter, this move might be difficult to implement in any substantial manner. However, even the symbolic import of it is significant. Already, China has made its claim to be a part of the India-Nepal dispute by offering to conduct talks with India on the issue.
Most Nepali elites are extremely angry with the blocking of entry points by Madhesi agitators, blaming India for the move which they see as a pressure tactic to get it to amend its constitution.
Events today come as a huge climb-down from November 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nepal with unprecedented fanfare and media attention.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's big story
India’s blockade of Nepal is tearing the hill nation apart even as, on paper, India insists it has done no such thing.
It is important to note that not only India, many other commentators have issues with the Nepali constitution since it is seen to concentrate power into the hands of upper caste men, leaving behind the marginalised like the Dalits, the Madhesis, women as well as religious minorities.
Politicking and policying
1. The Congress has boycotted the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Modi at the India-Africa Forum Summit to protest the sidelining of Nehru’s legacy.
2. The National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau has been shut down by the Union Health Ministry as part of a cost-cutting measure,
3. Australia helped in Chhota Rajan’s arrest claimed the country’s Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Punditry
1. In the Indian Express, Sushant Singh explains that India shouldn’t abandon its nuclear doctrine because of Pakistan’s tactical nukes.
2. The Bharatiya Janata Party will not be able to revive its floundering campaign in Bihar says Nilanjan Mukhopadhya in the Caravan.
3. The World Bank has been unable to help countries such as India, argues AM in the Telegraph
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1. The Smriti Irani-led human resource development ministry has suddenly demanded that the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, which conducts the ICSE and the ISC examinations, supply evidence to justify its existence.
2. The Kerala Vishwa Hindu Parishad has condemned the police raid on Delhi's Kerala House and supported the establishment's right to serve beef.
3. The Supreme Court refused to ban fireworks for Diwali, saying that bursting crackers was a right.
4. Union minister for culture Mahesh Sharma – who sought to justify the Dadri lynching as an “accident” – has just been allotted a sprawling Lutyen’s bungalow which was once occupied by President Kalam.
The Big Story: Nepal China bhai-bhai
China has agreed to supply Nepal with petroleum products, thus providing relief for the landlocked nation facing massive fuel shortages caused by an unofficial blockade by India.
"Nepal Oil Corporation and China National United Fuel Corporation formalised a long-term commercial agreement in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon," a senior Nepali bureaucrat told the Times of India.
In two separate agreements, China has promised to give a one-off 1,000 metric tonnes of petroleum products as grant and signed a memorandum of understanding for petroleum supply, reports the Hindustan Times.
Delhi will wait and watch for the move to materialise on the ground. Given the difficult terrain between Nepal and China and the upcoming winter, this move might be difficult to implement in any substantial manner. However, even the symbolic import of it is significant. Already, China has made its claim to be a part of the India-Nepal dispute by offering to conduct talks with India on the issue.
Most Nepali elites are extremely angry with the blocking of entry points by Madhesi agitators, blaming India for the move which they see as a pressure tactic to get it to amend its constitution.
Events today come as a huge climb-down from November 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nepal with unprecedented fanfare and media attention.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's big story
India’s blockade of Nepal is tearing the hill nation apart even as, on paper, India insists it has done no such thing.
It is important to note that not only India, many other commentators have issues with the Nepali constitution since it is seen to concentrate power into the hands of upper caste men, leaving behind the marginalised like the Dalits, the Madhesis, women as well as religious minorities.
Politicking and policying
1. The Congress has boycotted the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Modi at the India-Africa Forum Summit to protest the sidelining of Nehru’s legacy.
2. The National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau has been shut down by the Union Health Ministry as part of a cost-cutting measure,
3. Australia helped in Chhota Rajan’s arrest claimed the country’s Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Punditry
1. In the Indian Express, Sushant Singh explains that India shouldn’t abandon its nuclear doctrine because of Pakistan’s tactical nukes.
2. The Bharatiya Janata Party will not be able to revive its floundering campaign in Bihar says Nilanjan Mukhopadhya in the Caravan.
3. The World Bank has been unable to help countries such as India, argues AM in the Telegraph
