The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. India has been ranked 130 out of 188 countries in the Human Development Index, according to the United Nations.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his promise of ensuring every Indian has their own home by 2022, despite a row over his visit to Kerala on Monday.
3. Mumbai Police have arrested one suspect in the murder of artist Hema Upadhyay.
The Big Story: Feisty Swaraj
The External Affairs Minister has added her voice to the growing chorus of those within the Bharatiya Janata Party who do not think social media should have a say in the way this country is run. Briefing the Lok Sabha on her visit to Pakistan, Swaraj put forward a defence of her government's decision to talk to Islamabad and resume a composite dialogue. The minister said that she wants to ensure that "saboteurs" do not get in the way of the dialogue process.
In particular, Swaraj hit out at those on social media who criticised her demeanor and even attire in Pakistan. Twitter had been abuzz with discussions about Swaraj choosing to wear a green sari to a meeting with the Pakistani prime minister, as if to suggest this was a great concession to Islamabad, as well as her decision to speak in Urdu.
Swaraj offered simple concise responses to this: I wear green saris every Wednesday, she said, and that Wednesday also I wore a green sari. As for the language she spoke: "Urdu kewal unki zubaan nahi hai… Urdu merey mulk ki bhi zubaan hai. " Urdu is not just their tradition, it belongs to my country too.
Swaraj, like the rest of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is discovering that the large grouping of holier-than-thou digital Indians who were courted by the party in the run-up to last year's elections are not now going to remain silent, particularly when it comes to dealing with Pakistan. Her responses, however, represent the best way to deal with criticism that is, when it comes to talking about sari choices, by definition trite.
The Big Scroll
Rakesh Sood explains the difficulty that the Modi government faces, even if what it wants is dialogue.
Politicking & Policying:
1. Parliament Watch: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley invoked Jawaharlal Nehru in an attempt to shame the Congress into cooperating in Parliament so that the Goods and Services Tax Bill may be passed.
2. Parliament Watch: Some of the disrupted time of the Rajya Sabha was due to Congress protesting the killing of a Dalit in Punjab.
3. Coast Guard DIG BK Loshali has been sacked in a court martial for telling something resembling the truth.
4. The Delhi High Court has criticised the Railways for its demolition drive in Shakur Basti in the capital, which allegedly led to the death of a six-month-old child.
Punditry
1. C Rangarajan and S Mahendra Dev in the Indian Express says the bunching of India's poor at the poverty line offers an opportunity to improve their lot.
2. Anjuli Bhargava in the Business Standard calls on the Delhi government to make a few simpler changes to improve movement of people and traffic in the capital.
3. Ramachandra Guha in the Telegraph remembers Benedict Andreson, the scholar of nationalism, who died this week at the age of 79.
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1. India has been ranked 130 out of 188 countries in the Human Development Index, according to the United Nations.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his promise of ensuring every Indian has their own home by 2022, despite a row over his visit to Kerala on Monday.
3. Mumbai Police have arrested one suspect in the murder of artist Hema Upadhyay.
The Big Story: Feisty Swaraj
The External Affairs Minister has added her voice to the growing chorus of those within the Bharatiya Janata Party who do not think social media should have a say in the way this country is run. Briefing the Lok Sabha on her visit to Pakistan, Swaraj put forward a defence of her government's decision to talk to Islamabad and resume a composite dialogue. The minister said that she wants to ensure that "saboteurs" do not get in the way of the dialogue process.
In particular, Swaraj hit out at those on social media who criticised her demeanor and even attire in Pakistan. Twitter had been abuzz with discussions about Swaraj choosing to wear a green sari to a meeting with the Pakistani prime minister, as if to suggest this was a great concession to Islamabad, as well as her decision to speak in Urdu.
Swaraj offered simple concise responses to this: I wear green saris every Wednesday, she said, and that Wednesday also I wore a green sari. As for the language she spoke: "Urdu kewal unki zubaan nahi hai… Urdu merey mulk ki bhi zubaan hai. " Urdu is not just their tradition, it belongs to my country too.
Swaraj, like the rest of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is discovering that the large grouping of holier-than-thou digital Indians who were courted by the party in the run-up to last year's elections are not now going to remain silent, particularly when it comes to dealing with Pakistan. Her responses, however, represent the best way to deal with criticism that is, when it comes to talking about sari choices, by definition trite.
The Big Scroll
Rakesh Sood explains the difficulty that the Modi government faces, even if what it wants is dialogue.
Politicking & Policying:
1. Parliament Watch: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley invoked Jawaharlal Nehru in an attempt to shame the Congress into cooperating in Parliament so that the Goods and Services Tax Bill may be passed.
2. Parliament Watch: Some of the disrupted time of the Rajya Sabha was due to Congress protesting the killing of a Dalit in Punjab.
3. Coast Guard DIG BK Loshali has been sacked in a court martial for telling something resembling the truth.
4. The Delhi High Court has criticised the Railways for its demolition drive in Shakur Basti in the capital, which allegedly led to the death of a six-month-old child.
Punditry
1. C Rangarajan and S Mahendra Dev in the Indian Express says the bunching of India's poor at the poverty line offers an opportunity to improve their lot.
2. Anjuli Bhargava in the Business Standard calls on the Delhi government to make a few simpler changes to improve movement of people and traffic in the capital.
3. Ramachandra Guha in the Telegraph remembers Benedict Andreson, the scholar of nationalism, who died this week at the age of 79.
