The Quint - Story Reads: Recent Episodes
The Quint - Story Reads
Not your conventional podcasts, but a straight text-to-audio readout of The Quint's text stories – news, opinion, satire and more.
As the tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot rages on, a quota twist has suddenly deepened the Rajasthan Congress crisis. For years, the state party unit has been split into two warring camps where hostilities flare up on a range of issues – from top leadership to petty posts, and ministerial berths to caste calculations.
In this episode, The Quint's Dhananjay is in conversation with Hindi commentator Sushil Doshi about the changes m=being made in the BCCI's selection committee.
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The Quint got in touch with the Additional SP of Balrampur Police who denied saying that the attack was on the Durga puja procession in Balrampur was 'pre-planned'.
Read the story here.
This is a conversation between The Quint's Opinions Editor, Nishtha Gautam, and N Ram, The Hindu Publishing Group's Chairman, on the Press Council's letter on Kashmir that has sparked controversy.
The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, 20 August, agreed to hear Facebook's transfer petition on September 13, on a number of cases across high courts seeking to link Aadhaar with social media accounts.
Facebook is currently a respondent in a PIL seeking Aadhar-social media linkage, which is pending before the Madras High Court.
The apex court also issued a notice to all the parties in the case: WhatsApp, Google, YouTube and others, and sought their response by the date of the next hearing. The Bench comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bode, however, has not stayed the hearing before the Madras High Court which is scheduled for Wednesday, 21 August.
Jaoon Kahan Bata Ae Dil is directed by Aadish Keluskar and stars Khushboo Upadhyay and Rohit Kokate.
Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Kirti Kulhari and Nithya Menen – it’s very difficult to waste five successful female actors, but ‘Mission Mangal’ does that with remarkable confidence
The Narendra Modi government’s announcement of the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was preceded by a massive exercise of data-gathering in the Valley.
Several fragments of this data-gathering exercise can be pieced together based on conversations with Kashmiri civilians and security personnel. The exercise of mapping seems to have included gathering information on different elements like mosques, political workers and leaders, Personal Security Officers, journalists, activists, businessmen and boys involved in protests in the past.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a laid back, warm-hearted and genuinely sad film that lacks the seething anger and righteous drive of Inglourious and Django.
With several submerged districts receiving not excess, but deficit rains this time, what explains this aberration in Karnataka?
The answer lies in shorter rainy days, deforestation and development activities in catchment areas of rivers compounded by the excess water coming to the state from Maharashtra through Kolapur and other areas.
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Dr Vikram Sarabhai, who would have been 100 on 12 August, was not just the ‘father of ISRO’, as most Indians identify him. He was a doting and hands-on father to Kartikeya and Mallika, who followed their parents’ footsteps to become India’s celebrated visionaries in their respective fields.
Since 2014, there have been numerous additions to the Modi visual gallery. Man vs Wild is yet another encounter between two celebrities, quite like the Akshay Kumar interview. The only difference being that Grylls took him to the international audience.
But, Modi did precious little to woo them. As far as the Indian viewer is concerned, those who would watched the show are already on the list of supporters or ‘converts’.
Finally, the old guard of the Congress has prevailed. Rahul Gandhi and his cheerleaders have been effectively isolated.
This was the ringing message from the day-long deliberations of the Congress Working Committee on Saturday, 10 August, which chose to hand over the reins of the party back to Sonia Gandhi, who had stepped down in 2017 to make way for her son.
When Rahul Gandhi put in his papers as Congress president in May following the party’s disastrous performance in the last Lok Sabha poll, his decision predictably threw the party into a state of turmoil.
Let me start with the deeply personal. I love my four- year old nephew more than anything or anyone on earth. When my day has been rotten, my ego crushed, this bright eyed four- year old looks me in the face and thinks the world of me. It restores me. It makes me want to live again.
If to such a child you make a promise and you say – ‘If you don’t cry on your way to school today, I will get you some chocolate in the afternoon,’ but then in the afternoon you don’t deliver on your promise? And then for the next ten years you don’t deliver on it? Will you see the light go out of this child’s face? Will you see their utter destruction of faith in you, perhaps their trust in all adults will be broken forever.
Now that the first step towards a uniform civil code has been taken with the passage of the Triple Talaq Bill, and Article 370 has effectively gone, can the construction of a Ram mandir in Ayodhya be far behind?
It’s raining development sops in the Kashmir Valley this monsoon, never mind the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is doing much better on development indicators – such as income and health – compared to some of the laggard states in India, and is not too far from the better ones.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' train crossed the Banihal tunnel into the Valley – which is on lockdown – as he spoke in a nationwide address with a sense of detail and turns of phrase that should make an average Indian's heart melt.
Pakistan’s decision to expel the Indian High Commissioner, stop trade, and close an air corridor, is a signal that we may be returning to a free-for-all era of the 1990s that culminated in 9/11.
At first sight, the Pakistani action could be self-defeating since it is equally, if not more, affected by cutting off ties with India. But Islamabad has always had the ability to cut its nose to spite its own face, when it comes to Kashmir.
ne state were the Narendra Modi government’s move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divide it into two Union Territories has received widespread condemnation, is Punjab, the neighbour of the erstwhile state. The criticism came from several sections - from the state’s political leadership, to intellectuals, retired civil servants, students and farmers’ outfits. Even Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who has taken hawkish positions on matters of national security in the past, slammed the move as being “unconstitutional”.
The award-winning show, starring Sandra Oh as secret agent Eve Polastri and Jodie Comer as serial killer Villanelle, is next binge-worthy offering on the small screen.
A high-powered Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council recently decided to reduce the tax rate on electric vehicles (EVs) to 5 percent from the existing 12 percent, with effective from 1 August.
There’s a reason why people say “there are no free lunches” and Apple merely justifies this proverb with its business strategy. The company has repeatedly stated, it’s not interested in making money off its users’ data.
What many deemed completely impossible has happened – Mamata Banerjee has quietened down.
Consider this.
Banerjee is now reading out her speeches.
She took a measured view on an issue of as much national significance as the scrapping of Article 370, instead of shooting off her mouth.
And she is not walking miles ahead of the panting Kolkata police (and Trinamool leaders in a similar state) during her signature michils (parades) anymore.
Everyone in Kolkata's political circles has noticed Banerjee's new approach. And the verdict is clear on who is behind this 'makeover' – Prashant Kishor.
Listen to the podcast for the full story.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in a letter to the Internet Freedom Foundation, stated that it has stopped onboarding new Truecaller users on its UPI platforms.
“We wish to reiterate that no sooner the bug was noticed on 30 July 2019, NPCI has stopped Truecaller new user onboarding services on UPI platform,” wrote Dilip Asbe, NPCI Managing Director and CEO.
IFF had written to NPCI on 1 August, expressing concern about the “non-consensual automated sign-ups for UPI,” and urged it to undertake an investigation into the security breach.
A bug in caller-ID app Truecaller risked its users’ financial data on Tuesday, 30 July. The app, which helps people avoid spam callers, started registering users to the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) account without their permission.
From Gaitonde to Kukoo, here's looking at 8 of the most impactful character deaths in 'Sacred Games.'
Here’s a glimpse of 8 such films that have tried to do justice to the region by putting a face to the violence and trauma that has engulfed the beautiful valleys of Kashmir.
A trending hashtag on Twitter, WhatsApp forwards, and glittery discounts. That’s how I presently sum up Friendship Day, at 24.
Now, let’s rewind to 10 years back – the good old school days!
‘Friendship Day’, in school, was not just any ordinary day. It was a day that involved a lot of planning, drama, and ermm... a little bit of showing-off!
A very crucial ritual of this day, amidst the hustle and bustle, was the unforgettable tradition of tying ‘friendship bands’. Let’s just say, back in those days, getting ‘friend-zoned’ was a privilege... not a tragedy.
“Gaadi ki aage waali side pe aag lagi hui thi, isliye log aage jaane se katra rahain the. Agar tez baarish nahi ho rahi hoti toh sab mar jaate. (The front portion of the car was on fire, which is why people were reluctant to get close. If it hadn’t been raining that day everyone would be dead.”)
30-year-old Arjun Yadav, an eye-witness to the Unnao rape accident, runs a betel kiosk barely 20 meters away from the accident site told The Quint. A white Swift, owned by the Unnao rape survivor’s lawyer, collided with a truck on 28 July in UP’s Rae Bareli.
Outside the Unnao rape survivor's lawyer’s home, 70 km from Lucknow, the mood was sombre. Women trickled into the house to meet his mother, who wasn’t in any condition to speak, while men sat outside, concerned.
As Virat Kohli & Co seek redemption in the tour-opening T20I series, here are the four Indian cricketers who will look to cement their place in the side.
Senior journalist and the Managing Director of Republic TV Arnab Goswami hosted a prime time debate arguing “Article 35A was a temporary provision” and that its abrogation wasn’t even a matter of debate. But how true is his argument?
While Kangana Ranaut may seem like she has somewhat perfected the anti-heroine (with both her onscreen and offscreen presence), there are others too who’ve contributed to the wave.
On 31 July, after the Rajya Sabha passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019, as per protocol, an official press release followed. Issued by the Press Information Bureau, the document was perfectly routine until one scrolled down to the portion which officially announced the Aadhaar having been made mandatory to obtain driving licences.
Under a section titled ‘Reforms in Driving Licences’, the press release mentioned, “provision of online identity verification Aadhar Card has been made mandatory for making Driving Licences.”
However, when The Quint analysed the amended Bill, it found no such provision specifying the mandatory nature of Aadhaar. Moreover, in the Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar’s Constitutional validity, a five-judge Bench had pronounced that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for anything other than subsidies and taxes.
So, where did this come from?
When The Quint contacted the Press Information Bureau (PIB) seeking clarification, a senior official admitted that the sentence had been erroneously inserted.
During the recent Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies elections in four states, the Election Commission (EC) of India found 154 instances of fake news or misinformation on social media platforms.
The thing is, though, all these fake news items that the EC reported to Facebook, Twitter and Google, were only about the EC Itself.
In other words, given that the issue of misinformation, especially on social media, was a major concern for the EC, it has come as a surprise that not a single report pertains to fake news that were communally and politically sensitive.
Former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has dominated headlines for a week since his surprise transfer from the Ministry of Finance to Power. Garg’s exit from the power corridors of North Block has prompted a critical analysis of his policies as well as his public clashes with institutions like the Reserve Bank of India.
Now, a policy recommendation by an inter-ministerial committee on virtual currencies – that Garg was heading at the time – appears to clash directly with the policy positions of the RBI, as well as the Centre, on a core aspect of Digital India campaign.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti appealed to diverse sections. While Mehbooba Mufti succeeded in wooing part of the pro-separatist sections, her father kept New Delhi happy by continuing to present himself as a someone they could trust.
On 15 July, the Centre released the ‘blueprint’ of its plan to set up a health data empire in India. Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan, unveiled the ‘National Digital Health Blueprint’, saying that he was ‘taking an oath to achieve a new dream’ – of a digitised healthcare ecosystem.
Among the key principles of the datafication of India’s medical ecosystem is a unique health ID for citizens, with Aadhaar as a key identifier.
What the blueprint essentially does is lay out the ‘building blocks’ for the implementation of the National Health Stack (NHS), which aims to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) in leveraging health records.
Recently, Disney’s Avengers: Endgame became the top-grossing Hollywood movie of all time at the worldwide box office by crossing $2,790,200,000. Here’s a list of top 10 highest grossing Indian films of all time.
HBO’s Series Big Little Lies Season 2 Review: The show stars Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Laura Dern, Adam Scott.
A week after MJ Akbar resigned in the middle of the #MeToo storm, the PM Modi-led government formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) to reevaluate the sexual harassment at workplace legal framework, make recommendations, and ensure their time-bound implementation.
Through an RTI, The Quint found out that the committee stands ‘dissolved.’
In April 2019, a Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in Delhi punished three 29-year-old men for sodomy which they had allegedly committed when they were 15. The JJB sentenced the three to be kept in protective custody in a ‘place of safety’ which is located in Majnu ka Tilla in Delhi for six months.
“The case is of the year 2005 when there were no provisions for keeping the juveniles in institution after they attain majority. Under the JJ Act there are provisions wherein juveniles can be awarded community service, counselling etc. In this particular case all three are already reformed, there are no criminal charges against them after alleged incident of sodomy. Then why did the JJB not look for other options to sentence them?”- Ashish Kumar, Child Rights Lawyer
The JJB’s objective is well-defined: to counsel and reform juveniles who are in conflict or at odds with the law, rather than punish them.
So it’s done – with a judgment that is already causing celebration across India’s TV channels, and on the streets.
A book review of 'A Year of Wednesdays' by Sonia Bahl. The book follows the story of two strangers who meet on a fifteen-hour flight journey.
Deciding on the fate of 15 rebel Karnataka MLAs, the Supreme Court on Wednesday took a decision that could potentially result in the fall of the Congress-JD(S) government in the state. There are two aspects to the Court’s verdict: It has ruled that the 15 MLAs can’t be compelled to attend the House’s proceedings. This means that they will not be bound by the whip of their respective parties in the trust vote this week. If all 15 MLAs abstain, the strength of the House comes down to 209. BJP with 105 MLAs will be just above the half-way mark.
It has refused the MLAs’ request that Karnataka Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar be instructed to decide on their resignations by 17 July. The Court has ruled that the Speaker should be allowed to arrive at his decision at an appropriate time.
Anissia's family have gone on the record to talk about the crime they say has been committed, but so far, the Singhvis had not spoken publicly. The Quint spoke to one of them to get their version of events.
Indian films and shows that attempt to deal with the supernatural turn out either funny or simply boring. Sujoy Ghosh’s new Netflix show Typewriter has many loose points you can pick on, but it’s not one of those cringy films with bad graphics. It is a thrilling five-episode series set in a small town in Goa, and stars Palomi Ghosh in the main lead.
Congress has faced major defections in Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Bihar, Telangana and Maharashtra. The reason mainly stems from the party’s structural weakness.
A Kashmir Valley police officer said that the Al Qaeda chief’s video wouldn’t replace the Azadi and Pakistan-sponsored militancy overnight. It wouldn’t create a Caliphate, but would definitely boost an already existing ideology.
Rundown on England's plan for ODI domination since 2015, their formidable form coming into the World Cup 2019, and how they dealt with a mini-crisis in the tournament to reach the finals.
From resort politics to mass defections to ruckus in the Assembly, Karnataka politics has seen it all in the past few years. Here are some major political crises the state has grappled with in the previous five decades.
With the worst water crisis in India’s history upon us, it is clear that we must change how we use water. Nearly 600 million Indians are experiencing high to extreme water-related hardships, and about 200,000 humans continue to perish annually from inadequate access to safe water.
Chennai’s four reservoirs, which supply to more than 4 million residents, are now bone-dry, and the city is being forced to rely on government water tankers or alternative sources, which are already causing water-borne illness.
But there is hope: among the least expensive and most effective ways to conserve water is to go vegan. Per one estimate, each person who goes vegan saves over 995,500 litres of water a year.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
So, it is official. According to the United States, a State genocide against a population – the Baloch – does not deserve to be sanctioned, punished or even, acknowledged. Mass graves, enforced disappearances and bombing of civilians by the Army – that in theory is supposed to protect their citizens – are legal and not even remotely objectionable.
On the contrary, if and when that same population takes up guns and tries to resist the systematic exploitation of their lives and their resources, it is labelled 'terrorist' and added to a blacklist. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), one of the Baloch militant organisations fighting in the region, has been classified as a global terrorist group by the US State Department – all of this, without taking any notice of the situation, despite repeated reminders by international humanitarian organisations and by the Balochi people themselves.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
So the news is out.
After more than five years of vague references to India and the Kashmir situation amid much general prose, Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has decided to launch a very focused diatribe against Kashmir – apparently criticising Pakistan for its ‘self-serving’ conduct of jihad at the same time.
It’s all very strange, and somewhat convenient.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
The RTI Act designated a Public Information Officer (PIO) for the citizens to get access to the required information in accordance with the provisions of the Act in October 2005. But contradicting the terms of the Act and lacking transparency, the Election Commission of India (EC) divulged selective information to people.
The Quint filed an RTI with the EC seeking information on Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s note of dissent on the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches in Latur (Maharashtra), Barmer (Rajasthan), Patan (Gujarat) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
In response to my RTI, the PIO shared documents on the file noting of the MCC violation probe, conducted in connection with PM’s speech in Varanasi. But he refused to share the file noting in connection with PM Modi’s speeches in Latur, Barmer and Patan citing section 8 (1) (g) of RTI Act, 2005, ie, “information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person”.
The Indian Ambassador to the United States, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, in mid-2019, made two statements regarding India ending oil imports from Iran – these statements appeared to be oxymorons, at the very least.
“ ... We depend very heavily on stability in that part of the world,” Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said.
‘That part of the world’ is a complicated generalisation, seeing as there is no universally recognised definition of the boundaries of the ‘Middle Eastern Region’ politically, or academically. However, considering the vast and heavy diplomatic, military and trade relations with the Arab world and the Gulf Cooperation Council, not to mention the millions of Indian citizens residing in the region – it is true that India depends on stability in the region to protect Indian lives, Indian wealth and Indian diplomacy.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
The Bangladesh government’s decision to set up the Rampal coal-fired power plant in the periphery of the Sundarbans, resulted in intense protests from activists within the country, and from international organisations, including the United Nations. But the plant — a joint venture between the Indian and Bangladeshi state-run power corporations — has hardly evoked any reaction from Indians, despite it threatening the survival of the Sundarbans.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
Militancy, and the separatist sentiment had remarkably waned in the whole of Kashmir in 2011 through 2015. After the PDP-BJP government took over in March 2015, the Valley witnessed a recurrence of both militancy and separatist sentiments. For over a year, Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Burhan Wani, was ‘permitted’ to grow into an icon for defiant Kashmiri youths. A fresh eruption of violence needed just a trigger, which came with Wani’s killing in an encounter in South Kashmir, on 8 July 2016.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
Former BJP MP Dinubhai Solanki has been given life imprisonment for the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethwa. Even while dying Jethwa fought back and helped lead the investigators to his killers.
Yesterday Movie Review: Yesterday is directed by Danny Boyle and written by Richard Curtis. It stars Himesh Patel and Lily James in lead roles.
Comedian Aziz Ansari addresses sexual misconduct allegations, racism and internet outrage in his latest Netflix special Aziz Ansari: Right Now. But how much of it is the real deal?
Although he was rapped on the knuckles by the Centre, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s move to include 17 OBC groups in the list of Scheduled Castes, is not as ill-conceived as it appears.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
Zaira Wasim’s religious sermon has kicked off a debate that might take a while to die down. We, in Pakistan, are somewhat used to seeing this change of heart (as Zaira has expressed about her career) – Junaid Jamshed and Veena Malik are two names that immediately come to my mind.
Yet, there is something equally disturbing to note, apart from Zaira’s ‘deliverance’ from the big bad world of cinema: most reactions to her decision to quit the film industry, fell under two automated categories.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
Five years ago, an op-ed in a Bangladeshi daily, Dhaka Tribune, ruffled the feathers of the powers that be in Myanmar’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw. Such was the offence taken that the Bangladeshi Ambassador was summoned for a dressing down by the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the opinion piece, now long removed from the web, journalist Zeeshan Khan had argued that the Rohingya “should have the option of forming an independent country between Bangladesh and Myanmar”.
Now, a broadly similar proposition has resurfaced in an intervention by US Congressman Brad James Sherman, in the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
There was something significantly symbolic in Nirmala Sitharaman’s decision to jettison the briefcase, that finance ministers have traditionally used to ferry Budget papers for decades, in favour of a red silk bahi-khata.
It prompted Chief Economic Advisor, Krishnamurthy Subramanian, to call it a departure from the ‘slavery of Western thought’. Subramanian’s Eco Survey, the previous day, had already given glimpses of ‘Indian tradition’ by invoking religious tracts to nudge changes in the Indian tax-payer’s behaviour.
For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
Shoplifters is directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. It won the Palme D'or at Cannes last year.
Several political parties have submitted details of donations received by them via electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (EC) in sealed covers after the Supreme Court directed them to do so in an interim order on 12 April.
According to an RTI reply accessed by The Quint, over 60 parties have submitted the details. However, in case of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the details have been submitted by the Tripura state unit and not the party’s national headquarters.
The RTI reply received by Commodore Lokesh Batra (Retired), mentions ‘BJP, Tripura Pradesh State’ under the section of ‘Name of the Party’ and ‘3 June’ under the ‘Date of Receiving in the Election Commission of India.’
The mystery of whether the EC has received the consolidated details of donations received by the BJP through electoral bonds or the envelope contains only the details of the Tripura state unit of the BJP will be solved only after the SC opens the sealed cover.
While in case of other major political parties, it states ‘INC’ for Indian National Congress, ‘AITC’ for All India Trinamool Congress, ‘BSP’ for Bahujan Samaj Party, etc, with the dates of submission of details. No state unit has submitted the details to the EC on behalf of any other political party.
Despite being at the helm, neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi enjoyed complete control of the party. As the cliche goes, they were like the glue which held the Congress together. Their presence at the top helped manage the ideological and factional differences within the party. With the family no longer in charge, at least not officially, several fault-lines within the party are likely to become sharper in the days to come.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through a circular in end June 2019, decided to do away with the tax exemption for disabled soldiers. It turns out the Army leadership is behind this move, which is not wise.
Both Hindu and Muslim residents of Old Delhi's Hauz Qazi condemned the attack on a temple, while calling for communal peace in the area.
The Modi government has evaded questions on recent crime data 22 times in the ongoing Parliament session without providing any reason for the lack of information, The Quint’s analysis of responses to questions in the Lok Sabha shows. Despite saying NCRB data on crimes, farmer suicides etc are unavailable, it does have up-to-date information on fake currency notes.
A review of Judgementall Hai Kyatrailer which released on 2 July. Judgementall Hai Kyastars Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao.
“Move aside, let him go inside to clean the toilet.” I don’t remember how many times I have heard my mother say this and not said anything. It never occurred to me way back in school and in college, that the remark was directed at a person from a lower caste. I remember when I was about fourteen or fifteen, my next-door neighbour slapped her two-year-old son when he playfully touched the toilet cleaner’s thighs. I witnessed the incident but said nothing. I heard my friend’s mother ask the maid what caste she belonged to before hiring her, and yet, I said nothing.
A few months previously, my aunt, very proudly, told me her housing society has a separate lift for house help. When she showed me the lift, I decided it was time to finally speak out. I told her that it was discriminatory and should not be practiced. She defended herself saying, “This is safe. I don’t want to travel with cleaners in the lift.” To that, I once again said nothing.
Watching ‘Article 15’ was like having these instances fall in place, leaving me wondering why I hadn’t said anything or done anything earlier. I was angry at myself, not for having partaken in discriminating against someone but for not having done enough to stop the same from happening.
With over 200 functionaries giving their resignations to Rahul Gandhi, the Congress is in position to carry out what is known as the Kamaraj Plan. But will it help revive the party?
Despite protests and mass resignations, Rahul Gandhi appears to be adamant on quitting as Congress president. The latest name doing the rounds is that of former Union Home Minister and former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.
Researchers at Dartmouth College have come up with a mobile sensing system to measure the performance of workers with the help of a fitness band, a smartphone and a custom app.
Freelance journalist, Divya Kandukuri writes about how director Anubhav Sinha handles caste-system in Article 15, starring Ayushmann Khurrana. "There is an uncomfortable upper-caste gaze throughout Article 15. Even directors like Nagaraj Manjule have portrayed caste crimes, but one does not see a foreign gaze in his films," she writes.
Instead of signing up and paying for multiple streaming platforms, Tata Sky Binge allows you to pay for apps like Hotstar, Eros Now and SunNext
From the killing of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand to the attack on Faisal Khan in Mumbai, there is a common thread running between some of the hate crimes against Muslims that have taken place in the past one month - the slogan “Jai Shri Ram”.
The Modi Government’s pilot project Ayushman Bharat or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), kick-started in September 2018, is facing a major setback due to low rates. As a result, multi-speciality and big private hospitals are unwilling to join hands with the government under the scheme.
The Quint has learnt that Dinesh Arora, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority has issued a notification on 30 May to constitute a committee under the Ayushman Bharat scheme to review “appropriate package costing”, “anomalies” as recommended by specialist committees. The ten-member committee is headed by Arora.
But why now? The Ayushman Bharat authorities did not give us a clear answer on ‘why’ but experts say, the trigger was when the Health Ministry found that most private hospitals refused to be a part of the scheme due to low rates. For eg: Ayushman Bharat yojana pays Rs 20,000 for the surgery of removal of chest wall tumour , whereas states are paying double the rate – Rs 40,000 – for the same surgery.
The I-league clubs and All India Football Federation (AIFF), the governing body of Indian football, are at loggerheads since reports emerged that the AIFF is planning to make the Indian Super League (ISL) the country’s top league as per an agreement signed years before the ISL’s inaugural edition.
The Union Cabinet on Monday, 24 June, approved the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill that proposes hefty penalties for violation of traffic laws.
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, will lock friendly horns with India’s External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on Tuesday, 25 June. Both ministers are battle-scarred veterans of friendly, productive, and sometimes bruising interactions, between the two countries. Pompeo a former attorney, State Representative and CIA director, will engage with his counterpart, a former diplomat, ambassador to the US and China, and Foreign Secretary. 8 years older than Pompeo, Jaishankar brings unmatched brilliance and experience in equal measure to the negotiating table. A lot depends on the Pompeo-Jaishankar meeting. The duo is likely to resume deliberations at the G-20 Summit in Osaka, later in June. Pompeo has tried to talk up the convergence of interest by saying in a major speech recently at the US-India Business Forum, that both countries “have an incredibly unique opportunity to move forward together, for the good of both of our peoples, the Indo-Pacific region, and indeed, the entire world.” With a nod towards PM Modi’s impressive election victory, Pompeo went on to say “Modi hai to mumkin hai.” (With Modi, things are possible).For more podcasts from The Quint,check out our Podcasts section.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had mandated real-time GPS tracking of all vehicles transporting Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the Lok Sabha Elections.
However, highly placed sources have now confirmed to The Quint that the installation of GPS in vehicles that carried EVMs/VVPATs and their 24*7 monitoring was never implemented during the Lok Sabha elections.
With nine points in their kitty, it looks like India is only one win away from a semis berth. Here’s a look at the areas India need to rectify to put the house in order going into the business end of the World Cup
The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom is being laurelled by many as the best smartphone from Oppo in a while and we kind of agree. There has been a drastic improvement in the design and Oppo has worked hard to offer a camera setup that’s giving a tough time even to flagships like the OnePlus 7 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S10.
Government think-tank Niti Aayog has proposed introducing a hefty re-registration fee for old vehicles and doing away with the mandatory scrapping policy it had suggested earlier.
At Père Lachaise in Paris, lies the final resting place of that remarkable woman, the last queen of Awadh. She was to some Malika Kishwar, while others knew her as Janab-i Aliyah, Her Sublime Excellency, mother to the ruler of ‘Oude’, Wajid Ali Shah. Listen to her story here from an excerpt from "The Courtesan, The Mahatma and The Italian Brahmin" by Manu S. Pillai.
The central question that the Muslim community is grappling with is: How to survive in Modi’s India? There are broadly four lines of argument being made by individuals within the community: 1. Shift towards the BJP 2. Stay away from politics 3. Strengthen ‘secular’ parties like the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party etc. 4. Move towards a ‘Muslim’ party like Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
Who's the bigger rowdy? Kabir Singh or Arjun Reddy? How do the two compare? And what about the misogyny.
When it comes to streaming, common perception places it to be concentrated in urban areas. However, thanks to cheap data and easily available smartphones, the number of people who will consume OTT is set to increase. How do OTT platforms in India plan to capture this audience?
If the Parliament is the temple of India’s democracy, the Central Hall in the stately Sansad Bhavan is its garbh grah, its sanctum sanctorum. Since I am using the Hindu imagery of a temple, I should mention who the main ‘deity’ in this sacred place is. It is Janardana. More specifically, Janata Janardana.
A compound word in Sanskrit − ‘Janaihi ardate iti Janardanaha’ − Janardana means one who is the lord of the people, their protector from distress, and bestower of peace and progress. But in the age of democracy, Janardana is none other than janata – or “We the People of India”, the resounding words with which the Preamble of our Constitution begins.
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Political analysts, commentators and scholars of a certain vintage are reliving a certain day in 1995, when former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, at that time President of the SAARC Council of Ministers Conference, was visiting a nondescript village in Bengal’s Murshidabad district, a Congress stronghold, to launch a Model Village programme.
A stage had been set up in a playground. In attendance was a smattering of senior SAARC and Government of India bureaucrats, Mukherjee, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, aka the ‘Robinhood of Murshidabad’, an area known for its 70 percent Muslim and backward community voters.
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The principal interest in the President's Address at the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament after a new government assumes office, is the possible indication(s) regarding immediate policy thrusts, and fresh initiatives of the regime which has been in harness for barely a couple of weeks.
This charm however did not exist for President Ram Nath Kovind's speech, because Modi 2.0 is a reincarnate of the previous regime.
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“We appeal to all political parties to urgently recognise the threats posed by the manipulations of EVM that compromise a free and fair election. We urge you to initiate immediate measures for public awareness regarding possible manipulation by EVM. We also request you to move forward to reject EVM and revert to paper ballot.”The above excerpt is from an open letter to all political parties written by a group of activists called ‘EVM Virodhi Rashtriya Jan Andolan’. Recent media reports on serious mismatch between the votes polled and votes counted in EVMs in the Lok Sabha election 2019 and the Election Commission of India’s (EC) silence on the questions raised through these reports, has led to this open letter, said the group.
According to a CSDS survey, 45 percent Sikhs either “highly distrust” or “somewhat distrust” the police, much higher than 32 percent among Muslims, 31 percent among Christians 27 percent among Upper Castes, 29 percent among SCs, 37 percent among STs.
With its second season finally here after over two years, it seems to have only got better. Especially with the legendary Meryl Streep on board.
With its second season finally here after over two years, it seems to have only got better. Especially with the legendary Meryl Streep on board.
The second season of Big Little Lies is finally here after over two years, and it seems to have only got better. Especially with the legendary Meryl Streep on board.
It is a show that has found itself in the centre of controversy. Leila, the Netflix series about a dystopian world, starring Huma Qureshi and based on a novel by Prayaag Akbar, is a brave one.
The show is streaming on Netflix, starring Huma Qureshi. ‘Leila’ has been directed by Deepa Mehta, Shanker Raman, and Pawan Kumar. Deepa Mehta is also Creative Producer on the series
A petition has been filed by Rupesh Behera, a voter, in the Odisha High Court regarding the discrepancies in the number of EVM votes polled and counted in the Kantabanji Assembly constituency that went to polls on 18 April 2019. In Odisha, the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were simultaneously conducted by the Election Commission.
The petition says that the recorded number of EVM votes polled in Kantabanji Assembly Constituency was 1,82,411 while the number of EVM votes counted was 1,91,077. A discrepancy of 8,666 EVM votes was registered by the petitioner.
A day after a Bengaluru-based promoter of an investment group went absconding along with Rs 2,000 crore raised by the company, claiming ‘political pressure’, the investment scam is becoming a political controversy.
Over 3,000 investors of I Monetary Advisory (IMA) have been left in a lurch after the promoter of the group, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, went absconding and claimed he would commit suicide, in an audio clip.
The scam took a political turn, when in the same voice note he accused Congress MLA Roshan Baig of taking Rs 400 crore from IMA to contest general election, which he didn’t return.
A Special Investigation Team has been ordered to probe the case.
After The Quint’s article, published on 31 May, pointed out discrepancies in the EVM votes polled and votes counted data in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission of India (EC) issued a press release on their website on 1 June. The release was not a rebuttal to The Quint’s article, rather a generic statement explaining how the EC compiles EVM votes polled data during elections.
When we examined the EC’s press release, we found that some of the information was less than convincing.
No, EC Did Not Take 2-3 Months To Compile Vote Polled Data In LS Election 2014
“In 2014, it took between 2 to 3 months after the declaration of results to collect and collate such data in authenticated form,” said the EC’s press release. When we checked, we found that EVM votes polled data existed on the EC’s website by 25 May 2014, while the results were declared on 16 May 2014 – that’s a period of nine days, not two-three months.