The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. The Supreme Court has sought the government's response on a petition challenging the imposition of President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh.
2. India's defence minister warned Pakistan not to test New Delhi's responses, after the air force intercepted a helium balloon that strayed across the border.
3. The Centre has promised to look into the claims of a decorated Manipur police officer that he had carried out a fake encounter.
The Big Story: Bar & Solar
Kerala, in many ways, is stuck in the past. While the rest of the country is struggling to deal with the cultural fallout emerging from a Bharatiya Janata Party-run Centre, the southern state has more traditional problems: Congress corruption scandals. Chief Minister Oomen Chandy has just been accused of accepting bribes in the salacious solar scam while the bar bribery case, which brought down two ministers, continues to rock the government.
The solar scam features a former businesswoman who allegedly duped hundreds of investors, in part because of her purported connections to Chandy's office. Although the chief minister has denied allegations of accepting bribes, the trail so far has evidence suggesting the involvement of his office, if not Chandy himself. Meanwhile, the bar bribery case – involving allegations of corruption in the renewal of liquor bar licences – continues to taint Chandy's cabinet.
Corruption scandals aren't exactly novel affairs in Kerala, but the prospect of elections around the corner gives them additional significance. With the BJP attempting to play spoiler in the two-horse race, the shenanigans of Chandy and his Cabinet seem to have emerged at just about the worst possible time for the Congress.
TK Devasia explains the intricacies of the solar scam including its allegations of sexual favours while also telling us why the bar bribery scandal will continue to haunt Chandy's government despite the resignation of a tainted minister. Meanwhile, the Congress is trying to use a two-decade old corruption case against a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader to suggest the state is full of pots and kettles. Politicking & Policying
1. Arunachal Watch: Governor JP Rajkhowa cited the slaughter of a cow and the chief minister's contacts with an alleged terror outfit as evidence of a breakdown in law and order to recommend President's Rule. Arunachal Watch: As the matter goes to court, the Congress has begun informal talks with the dissident lawmakers who caused the crisis in the first place. penalise bureaucrats against whom many complaints have been filed. stopped by authorities. allegedly broadcasting sensitive information during the Pathankot attacks. Punditry
1. Sudipto Mondal in the Hindustan Times paints a tragic portrait of Rohith Vemula's life. died a Dalit, abandoned by the other solidarities that ought to have rescued him, writes Mukul Kesavan in the Telegraph. success of the Tejas, writes Dr Anantha Krishnan M in Swarajya. Don't Missfor free speech.
Similarly, in reading Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s impassioned defences of free speech in the Parliamentary debates around the First Amendment, one cannot help thinking that he would be appalled that those who claim to be his heirs should prosecute someone like Arundhati Roy for sedition in a speech about Kashmir. (He might have disagreed with what she said, but I think he would have defended her right to say it).