The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. Sixteen-year-old Pune student being tracked for ISIS links.
2. Air India offers Rs 5 lakh and job to dead technician’s family.
3. Jose Mourinho sacked as Chelsea manager.
4. Seven thousand Syrians were tortured to death in government detention centres, says report.
5. Brazilian government lifts ban on WhatsApp.
The Big Story: Unsporting conduct
The Bharatiya Janata Party strongly defended Finance Minster Arun Jaitley against the Aam Aadmi Party’s allegations that he had presided over irregularities in the affairs of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, which he once headed. The party called AAP’s allegation against Jaitley “blasphemous” and “bordering on political hysteria”.
Calls for Jaitley to resign were rejected. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, “There is no question of resignation of Arun Jaitley. They [AAP] are playing their political cards as this is no issue.
Jaitley has refuted AAP’s allegations by pointing to the fact that they refer to a time period of 2014 and 2015 while the politician had left cricket administration in 2013. He in turn accused Kejriwal of deflecting attention from the corruption investigation against a civil servant in the Delhi government.
“A few days ago, a secretary of the Delhi government was searched and arrested after being caught for allegedly accepting a bribe," Jaitley said in a Facebook post. "The CBI had conducted the operation. The Delhi government welcomed the move. Four days later, another official close to the Chief Minister was searched for an alleged offence which related to the pre-Kejriwal period. The Chief Minister raised two pleas. First, that it violates the federal structure of the Constitution. In addition, the Chief Minister used unacceptable adjectives against the Prime Minister and, second, he questioned the purpose of the search and tried to divert attention by linking it to the Delhi cricket body rather than alleged corruption of this official.”
The raids by the Central bureau of investigation have united the opposition with the chief ministers of West Bengal and Bihar pitching in their support for Kejriwal on this matter.
The Big Scroll
Here’s what Kejriwal is accusing Jaitley of at the Delhi & District Cricket Association. And also, Jaitley’s defence. Later on, Smriti Irani also entered into a heated lexical debate on Twitter with journalist Sagarika Ghosh on the matter.
Politicking and policying
1. Don’t get rattled by the Opposition and their “stalling techniques”, Modi advises his ministers.
2. Pakistan reiterates that it attaches great importance to its ties with India.
3. Government clears purchase of Rs 39,000 crore Russian missile systems.
4. Micromax will soon launch its own mobile wallet payment system
Punditry
1. As Sharad Pawar celebrates his 75th birthday, Suhas Palshikar writing in the Indian Express looks back at his politics.
2. The debate about programming content and oversight by regulators will get more fierce as network television expands in India says Anuradha Raman in the Hindu.
3. The drive to clear Delhi roads of polluting cars should start by increasing the price paid by those who pollute contends BVR Subbu in the Business Standard.
Don't Miss
Nayantara Narayan reports on how the authorities in Tamil Nadu's flood-ravaged Cuddalore district are working overtime to prevent an outbreak of water-borne diseases.
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1. Sixteen-year-old Pune student being tracked for ISIS links.
2. Air India offers Rs 5 lakh and job to dead technician’s family.
3. Jose Mourinho sacked as Chelsea manager.
4. Seven thousand Syrians were tortured to death in government detention centres, says report.
5. Brazilian government lifts ban on WhatsApp.
The Big Story: Unsporting conduct
The Bharatiya Janata Party strongly defended Finance Minster Arun Jaitley against the Aam Aadmi Party’s allegations that he had presided over irregularities in the affairs of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, which he once headed. The party called AAP’s allegation against Jaitley “blasphemous” and “bordering on political hysteria”.
Calls for Jaitley to resign were rejected. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, “There is no question of resignation of Arun Jaitley. They [AAP] are playing their political cards as this is no issue.
Jaitley has refuted AAP’s allegations by pointing to the fact that they refer to a time period of 2014 and 2015 while the politician had left cricket administration in 2013. He in turn accused Kejriwal of deflecting attention from the corruption investigation against a civil servant in the Delhi government.
“A few days ago, a secretary of the Delhi government was searched and arrested after being caught for allegedly accepting a bribe," Jaitley said in a Facebook post. "The CBI had conducted the operation. The Delhi government welcomed the move. Four days later, another official close to the Chief Minister was searched for an alleged offence which related to the pre-Kejriwal period. The Chief Minister raised two pleas. First, that it violates the federal structure of the Constitution. In addition, the Chief Minister used unacceptable adjectives against the Prime Minister and, second, he questioned the purpose of the search and tried to divert attention by linking it to the Delhi cricket body rather than alleged corruption of this official.”
The raids by the Central bureau of investigation have united the opposition with the chief ministers of West Bengal and Bihar pitching in their support for Kejriwal on this matter.
The Big Scroll
Here’s what Kejriwal is accusing Jaitley of at the Delhi & District Cricket Association. And also, Jaitley’s defence. Later on, Smriti Irani also entered into a heated lexical debate on Twitter with journalist Sagarika Ghosh on the matter.
Politicking and policying
1. Don’t get rattled by the Opposition and their “stalling techniques”, Modi advises his ministers.
2. Pakistan reiterates that it attaches great importance to its ties with India.
3. Government clears purchase of Rs 39,000 crore Russian missile systems.
4. Micromax will soon launch its own mobile wallet payment system
Punditry
1. As Sharad Pawar celebrates his 75th birthday, Suhas Palshikar writing in the Indian Express looks back at his politics.
2. The debate about programming content and oversight by regulators will get more fierce as network television expands in India says Anuradha Raman in the Hindu.
3. The drive to clear Delhi roads of polluting cars should start by increasing the price paid by those who pollute contends BVR Subbu in the Business Standard.
Don't Miss
Nayantara Narayan reports on how the authorities in Tamil Nadu's flood-ravaged Cuddalore district are working overtime to prevent an outbreak of water-borne diseases.
"The most common complaint has been that of intertrigo – sores that occur on moist skin infected by bacteria or fungus. 'I have been walking around in all this water,' said Amudha, standing in queue at a health camp at Vaddaku main road in Chidambaram. 'My feet are full of sores and I have come for the ointment.'"
