India is a country on the go; at any given moment in time, there is much happening in the fields of politics and governance, of finance, of development; there is constant churning in society, considerable activity in sports and in the arts... It's almost too much to keep track of. And hence, this effort: a real-time, constantly updated look at the events that matter.
5:35 pm: Continuing the CD saga that has been reflected in several previous updates here, Federal Home Minister P Chidambaram has stepped in to assure a 'free, fair. thorough' probe into the whole mess. "The CD will be examined in at least two different labs for separate reports," Chidambaram is quoted as telling the media.
5:25 pm: "Pakistani Taliban have claimed that they are running three secret camps in South and North Waziristan tribal regions close to the Afghan border to train potential suicide bombers with their total strength exceeding 1,000.
“We have three facilities exclusively for fidayeen (suicide bombers). Each one has more than 350 men being trained in it,” a purported spokesperson for the little-known Fidayeen-e-Islam Group of the Taliban, told The Express Tribune from a secret location in North Waziristan.
The man, who identified himself as Shakirullah Shakir, added that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led by Hakimullah Mehsud had recently separated the operations of suicide bombers from the overall activities of the group.
“Fidayeen-e-Islam is a part of the overall chain of command of the TTP but it works separately and has its own structures,” Shakir said but gave little details of the working relationship between the mainstream Taliban leadership and the group handling suicide bombers."
5:20 pm: Now here's flame-bait: Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju has attributed simmering Hindu-Muslim tensions to a deliberate rewriting of history to project Muslim rulers as intolerant and bigoted, whereas ample evidence existed to show the reverse was true, the Hindu reports. "The judge also said that Indians were held together by a common Sanskrit-Urdu culture which guaranteed that India would always remain secular," the report reads.
"Justice Katju said the myth-making against Muslim rulers, which was a post-1857 British project, had been internalised in India over the years. Thus, Mahmud Ghazni's destruction of the Somnath temple was known but not the fact that Tipu Sultan gave an annual grant to 156 Hindu temples. The judge, who delivered the valedictory address at a conference held to mark the silver jubilee of the Institute of Objective Studies, buttressed his arguments with examples quoted from D.N. Pande's History in the Service of Imperialism."
5:10 pm: Here's one from Tehelka on how India is working to safeguard its atomic reactors. Relevant quote:
"Not taking chances with nuclear safety after the 11 March Japan earthquake and tsunami, the Indian government is preparing nuclear power plants and other reactors in the country for automatic shutdown and cooling of fuel during earthquakes, even when their intensity is low.
The government-run Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC), that operates 20 nuclear power plants in India, is taking steps for extra safety, which also include storage of water and installing diesel-operated pumps that start automatically for cooling reactors during eventualities."
So what's wrong with this story? Simple: all this is exactly what the Fukushima reactors were geared to do.
5:00 pm: One more for the 'Only In India' files: Apparently, gangs are finding it so difficult to get new recruits (Have they tried campus placements yet?) that they have begun outsourcing killings and extortions. Times of India has the story
4: 55 pm: Tillakaratne Dilshan has been named the Sri Lankan cricket captain for the tour of England. The 34-year-old replaces Kumar Sangakkara, who stepped down after Sri Lanka lost the World Cup final to India earlier this month.All-rounder Angelo Mathews, 23, has been tipped to be vice-captain, but he is nursing a side strain suffered during the World Cup semi-final. Know all about Dilshan
4:50pm: So the Bushans, Shanti and Prasanth, are all set to move the Supreme Court. Actually, NDTV reports that a contempt case has already been filed, citing former Samajwadi Party chief Amar Singh. For his part, Amar Singh (who was once famously slammed for wasting the court's time) denies having anything to do with CDs, doctored or otherwise, and is threatening to file a libel suit against the Bushans. Meanwhile, a PIL has been filed challenging the presence of the Bushans and the other three 'civil society' members in the Lok Pal Bill-framing joint committee.
You have to feel for the Supreme Court, really. It finishes hearing one case, and calls for the next. And lo, the same bunch troops in again. Rinse, repeat. One of our favorite political commentators on Twitter, Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) says the PIL and related cases has become like the IPL -- home and away matches and all. And no, we are not making fun of what should be a serious issue -- merely pointing out what a farce the whole thing is being reduced to.
4:24 pm: Lokpal Bill row: Anna Hazare wrote to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the "smear" campaign launched against civil society members of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill and asked her to advise her "colleagues" not to try to derail the process of drafting of law.
"It seems that the corrupt forces in the country have united to derail the process of drafting an effective anti-corruption law through the joint committee. Together we have to defeat their designs," Hazare said. Yahoo! India News has the story
4:18 pm: Now this is so fun. The government of India, which as we all know is deadly serious about the war on corruption, has decided that ministers will no longer have the power to punish senior-to-middle-level bureaucrats. The idea, according to the Group of Ministers (GoM) on corruption which convenes under the august leadership of Shree Pranab Mukherjee, is meant to reduce delays and also keep the political executive away from routine disciplinary matters. So who has the power now to punish bureaucrats? Short answer: Another bureaucrat. Go figure. Hindustan Times has the story
In passing, we had a little question: What is a Group of Ministers? We always thought that was a 'Cabinet'. No?
4:03 pm: Tatas, and the art of PR: 'Tatas to invest
4:00 pm: One more prosecution witness today turned hostile during the trial of Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi is the prime accused. So far 187 witnesses have been examined since the commencement of the trial here about two years ago and of them 81 have turned hostile.
3:46 pm: The India-China conundrum: Did India record a higher growth rate than China's? Did anyone notice? Does it matter? Does anyone care?
Questions, questions -- sparked by this piece in The Economist. Relevant quote:
"DID India grow faster than China last year without anyone so much as noticing? Many pundits, including this newspaper, have speculated about when India's growth might outpace China's. (The debate even spawned a meta-debate in India about whether the debate was worth having.) So it would be ironic if the moment had already come and gone, without any fuss, fanfare or felicitation.
China grew by 10.3% last year, a punishing pace to beat. India, according to the advance estimate by its Central Statistics Office (CSO), grew by 8.6%. Fast, but not fast enough. But today a colleague pointed me to the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook(Table 1.1), released earlier this week. It says that India grew by 10.4% in 2010. How can that be?"
Exactly. How could that be? Considering our government's propensity to tom-tom "achievements", had this actually happened, surely GoI would have marked it with noise that is way off the charts? Surely we would have declared a national holiday? Surely the concatenation of a win in the Cricket World Cup and in the Economic Cup would have been seen as an omen to bigger, better things?
The reason no one is making a song and dance about it, the Economist suggests, is because of an idiosyncrasy -- actually, two -- in the way we report our financial data. Here's the full story
3:34 pm: Yesterday, former Chief Justice VK Krishna Iyer was suggesting that Rahul Gandhi is nowhere close to being a good political leader, or being capable of leading the country.
Today, he is busy apologizing. So we have a question: At the end of all this, what is the former CJI's verdict? Is Rahul Gandhi a capable leader, or is he not?
3:15 pm: Finally some good news BlackBerry tablet fans as experts say that the yet to be launched 'PlayBook' leaves Apple's iPad miles behind in multitasking.
Its powerful QNX operating system -- called Neutrino -- allows the PlayBook to perform multitasking at amazing speed, according to experts.Thus, PlayBook users need not stop one application to start up another. They can keep all applications running simultaneously. That's why the PlayBook has no 'Home' button unlike the iPad because users don't need to stop any running application to start a new one.
3:00 pm: And now for some IPL news: Bikash Singh of Yahoo! Cricket writes on the clash between Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Chennai Super Kings today.
"Kochi's bowlers have been off-colour. RP Singh had one good game after two poor ones. Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan got hammered by Pune rookie Monish Mishra. Kochi have to attack Chennai's batsmen else they can post 180+ without being stretched."
2:45 pm: Indo-Pak Blind Cricket: While the BCCI and the PCB keep dithering about whether or not to resume bilateral cricket ties, the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) is working on hosting an Indo-Pak cricket series for the blind. PBCC secretary Bilal Satti is quoted as saying the tournament could take place at the end of the year, with Dubai being the likely venue. Here's the story
2:25 pm: Now for some news on the Indian Premier League: Around 35 security personnel, deployed to guard IPL teams in Chennai, protested in front of a hotel against the poor quality food supplied to them. The securitymen, including policemen, had been on bandobast duty with IPL teams here from April 7. Times of India has the story
2:20 pm: Azad murder case: Investigation into the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and freelance journalist Hem Chandra Pandey in an alleged shootout last year will handed over to the CBI, the Andhra Pradesh government told the Supreme Court. More on this story
2:10 pm: The makers of 'Dum Maro Dum', who attracted flak for allegedly portraying Goa and its people in a bad light, heaved a sigh of relief as the Bombay High Court bench here dismissed the petition filed against the release of the movie. Read on
2:00 pm: Some news on phase one of the West Bengal poll: Over 30 per cent turnout was recorded in the first four hours of voting in 54 constituencies of North Bengal, which went to polls in the first phase of Assembly elections, with no untoward incident reported. Read on
1:45 pm: He is no Anna Hazare, but Avtar Singh Nagla's protest is no less interesting. Nagla has been sitting on top of a eucalyptus tree for four days now, insisting that until Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal personally intervenes to resolve a four-decade long land dispute. In typical 'only in India' fashion, meanwhile, his wife is offering support; friends have erected a tent nearby to make and provide Nagla with food, and also provide food and drink for supporters flocking to see the novel form of protest at first hand. The full story
1:20 pm: Duh! After Poonam Pandey's offer, if you can call it that, to strip for the team if India won the ICC World Cup, it is now the turn of Shah Rukh Khan to incentivize his team with a skin show. Times of India reports that Shah Rukh has promised -- is that threatened? -- to take off his shirt and flash his six-pack abs if his team, Kolkatta Knight Riders, made it to the finals of the ongoing fourth edition of the IPL T20 tournament.
1:19 pm: This is interesting: Taking a cue from tennis, the Badminton World Federation has introduced a new dress code, which comes into effect from May 1 and requires all female players to wear skirts or dresses in Grand Prix tournaments and above "to ensure attractive presentation of badminton".
Players may continue to wear shorts if they wish to but it has to be underneath a skirt, as some shuttlers already do. Read on
1:10 pm: Only In India: Six inmates of Tihar Central Jail, serving time for crimes ranging from cheating to murder and kidnapping, are currently studying hard to qualify for the Indian Administrative Service exams with the hope of turning into bureaucrats. Helping them prepare is inmate Siddharth Singh Sidar, a resident of Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, now in prison on cheating charges. Sidar, an IIT-ian from Kharagpur, had come to Delhi to prepare for his IAS when he was sent to prison. Currently, he is busy preparing for the civil services exams, and helping his fellow inmates realize their ambition. The full story
12:50 pm: BSE benchmark Sensex shrug off its early gains and was trading 176 points down at midsession today on heavy selling in fundamentally strong IT stocks led by Infosys amid weak Asian trend. More on this story
12:40 pm: Arunima update: Federal Sports Minister Ajay Maken, CNN-IBN reports, has left for Lucknow with a sports injury specialist doctor to examine the state of Arunima's health, and the progress of her surgery and related treatment. If need arises, Maken has said, the government will shift her to Delhi to continue her treatment at a premier medical facility (See also our update of 12.05 pm).
12:30 pm: Those arguing that Anna Hazare's recent public statements, particularly with regard to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, show a certain degree of naivete found fresh ammunition today. While the activist said he was pained to have to repeatedly explain himself on Modi, whom he had praised for the developmental work in Gujarat, Hazare's confrere Swami Agnivesh today said the activist's statement was based on insufficient information. Rediff.com quotes Agnivesh as saying Hazare might withdraw his statement. Quote:
"On Hazare's statement (about Modi) -- me and other activists feel that he did not have a clear view about Gujarat and his information was based on media reports," Agnivesh told reporters. He further said he had come to collect information in Gujarat and to convince all the activists of the country that Hazare's statement was not because of some inclination, but was based on information the Gandhian had."
12:20 pm: The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, says India has signed an inter-governmental pact providing for civil nuclear cooperation with Kazakhstan, following talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazhakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Speaking to the media following the signing of the pact, Singh said that in return, India will help Kazhakhstan in the fields of pharmaceuticals, information technology, fertilizers and mining.
12:05 pm: Ace Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh, a member of the team that won the ICC World Cup earlier this month, has offered aid to the tune of Rs 1 lakh to Arunima, the national level football and volleyball player Arunima Sinha who lost her leg after being thrown out of a running train by robbers near Bareilly. The gesture follows fellow World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh, who also offered a similar amount to Arunima.
"I got to know this news through a friend and I really feel for the young girl. Her life is ahead of her and as a sportsman, it is our responsibility to help her," Harbhajan Singh said. "I would like to tell Arunima that she should not lose heart and champions like her will overcome all the obstacles. I offer this small token of help and wish her all the very best in life," Harbhajan said.
Arunima is currently in hospital, undergoing treatment to cope with complications caused when her left leg was amputated. Agencies report that Arunima has said she will use the aid pouring in to start a sports foundation/training center in her home town.
12:00 pm: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" The classic problem -- 'Who will guard the guardians themselves?' -- posed by Roman poet Juvenal is finding a grim lease of life in West Bengal, along the India-Bangladesh model, where Border Security Force personnel, ostensibly posted there to guard against illegal immigration, has become part of the problem. IANS reports
"Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers posted on the border allegedly seek 'sexual favours' from women in exchange for letting them cross over for smuggling - and so it was with Asma.
This cycle of regularly giving sexual favours for 'free', when sex workers charge money for the same, makes a number of women turn to sex work professionally.
They earn only a couple of hundred rupees through smuggling. Working as a sex worker helps them earn as much as Rs.10,000 a month - a portion of which goes to the pimp or madam in the brothel and the bulk to their families.
A BSF senior official said on condition of anonymity: 'We take stringent steps if any of our men are found involved in smuggling or any human rights violation.'
Saima Bibi, another sex worker hailing from Bangladesh, said: 'Sometimes if a BSF jawan likes a girl, the whole group won't be allowed to go unless a few women are provided.'
'If we complain then the border will be forever closed for us,' she said."
11:50 am: Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh, the last titular Maharaja of Jaipur and head of the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs, died aged 79 on April 17 after a prolonged illness culminated in multi-organ failure. The Maharaja, who as a serving officer in the Indian army led troops into Pakistan in the 1971 war and received the Mahavir Chakra. The stepson of the fabled Maharani Gayatri Devi, Sawai Bhawani Singh, like so many of the Rajput royals, branched into hoteliering, and at the time of his death was running the fabled five-star hotels at the Rambagh Palace and Raj Mahal Palace, while living in the traditional seat of power, the City Palace.
11:44 am: News agency IANS reports a fire early this morning on the Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express. The fire is believed to have broken out as the train was nearing Ratlam, in Madhya Pradesh. It began in the pantry car, and quickly spread to the adjoining B6 and B7 bogies. The pantry car was totally gutted, even as officials detached the burning cars to prevent the fire from spreading. Railway officials say that one passenger was injured, but that there are no other injuries and/or casualties. At the time of this update, there is no indication of how the fire broke out.
11:40 am: The Supreme Court banned the employment of children in circuses and directed the government to rescue children employed in the sector and formulate a rehabilitation programme for them.
A bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari said that in order to protect the fundamental rights of children, it is imperative that the government issues notification to prohibit employment of children in this sector.
11:25 am: Civil rights activist Binayak Sen, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition by a Raipur court on December 24, is likely to be released today. More on this story
11:19 am: Rescue crews searched for survivors after a storm spawned dozens of tornadoes across the southern US, killing 45 people in six states from Oklahoma to North Carolina, the hardest hit, with 62 twisters and at least 21 dead.
11:15 am: Despite a plethora of laws aimed at curtailing the practice of selective abortion, India's latest census underlines the fact that the problem has only grown. The results of the 2011 census indicates, when examining the number of children aged 6 or lower, that there are 914 females to every 1000 mails -- the lowest ratio since India attained Independence. Time magazine examines the problem
11:04 am: Would you buy a car priced at Rs 20 crore? Even in your dreams?
Luxury car makers are increasingly betting that you will. Thus, the iconic Aston Martin has launched in India, and hopes to sell over 50 of the uber-luxury cars in its first year of operations. Here's the news that should startle you -- 30 cars have already been sold and delivered.
The luxury car market appears to be looking up. Volvo, in a survey, predicted a 50 per cent hike in sales, and projected 20,000 luxury cars being sold in 2011 as against 13,000 units sold in 2010. Other luxury brands slated to debut in India this year are Ferrari, and Maserati.
10:54 am: A startling revelation in the 2G spectrum scam: Corporate lobbyist Niira Radia said that former telecom minister A Raja was not interested in taking up the portfolio in the run-up to the cabinet's formation after the April-May 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Hindustan Times has the story
10:50 am: The Anna Hazare-led movement against corruption continues to create waves, in often unexpected ways. In the latest development, Anna Hazare has backed Shanti Bhushan, co-chair of the Lok Pal Bill drafting committee, over the issue of a CD carrying purported conversations between Bhushan, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, and former SP leader Amar Singh about influencing judges. "I've been told that a top forensic laboratory has said the CD in question was doctored," Hazare said. Read on
The issue is really two issues masquerading as one. The first, and most obvious, is the need for a nation-wide fight against corruption -- and on this, there is no argument. In fact, the magnitude of the problem is highlighted by this story, which points out that the problem is not of cases not being filed, but of the government deliberately delaying, often denying, the prosecution of such cases. And related, here's a round up of anti-corruption laws that already exist.
The second, less obvious, issue is whether the Lok Pal Bill is in fact the best means to that end. And on this, various Yahoo columnists have been weighing in over the last few days with their thoughts.
Amit Varma, in his column, argues the case for why the proposed bill does nothing to eradicate the root cause for corruption. More recently, Mohit Satyanand in a column today points to three key areas any anti-corruption initiative must address if a lasting solution is to be found.
Yahoo staffer Suma Nagraj collates much of the opinion and discussion on the issue in the public domain. Finally, for an in-depth dissection of the bill, read Mumbai-based lawyer Amba Salelkar's extensive post mortem.
10:18am
A photo from the Auto Rickshaw race in Kochi on Sunday. More photos
10:00am
Here are the most compelling photos from around the world. From Libyan rebels loading trucks with ammunition to Indian army soldier performing daring stunts. Slideshow
8:55am
Early Monday morning, three coaches of Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express caught fire. No casualty is reported.
8:32am
The first phase of West Bengal elections begin today. 54 constituencies will cast their vote. Security is tightened around Darjeeling and Cooch Behar as they border Nepal and Bangladesh. More
Meanwhile, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said expelled CPI(M) leader Somnath Chatterjee was welcome to campaign if he likes.
8: 14am
A little over a month since the devastating Japan quake and tsunami, leading Japanese automaker Toyota resumes production at their plants in the country.
8:00am
The controversy surrounding the Lokpal Bill continues. This time voices rise against the apppointment of Shanti Bhushan as co-chair of the committee.
On his part, Bhushan says the CD is fake and that he will file a contempt case in the Supreme Court, with Anna's backing.
Unto IPL, the Kolkata Knightriders continued their winning streak for the third consecutive time.
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