Amid Trump Salvo, New Delhi ‘Confident’ That Ties ‘Will Move Forward’; Draft Roll of Voters Released in Bihar; Deve Gowda’s Grandson Prajwal Revanna Convicted in Rape Case
ED Summons Anil Ambani in Rs 3,000 Crore Fraud Case, Modi Must Learn From the Past to Stand Up to Trump, Election to Next Vice-President Will be Held on September 9
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Tanweer Alam, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh, MK Venu, and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK
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Over to Sidharth Bhatia for today’s Cable
Snapshot of the day
August 1, 2025
Sidharth Bhatia
The Election Commission's draft voter roll for Bihar is out, and the month-long claims and objections phase of its contentious special intensive revision in the state begins today. Those not on the draft roll – it is yet unknown how many people are in it – can petition to be included during the claims and objections period, and the poll body is expected to start verifying people's citizenship credentials starting today, given that it has accepted enumeration forms without the supporting documents.
As per the executive order US President Donald Trump signed yesterday, the 25% tariff on Indian goods – as well as new tariffs on most of a total of 69 trading partners – will kick in on August 7, creating a week-long delay that will give more time to customs officials to prepare to implement the levies as well as to Washington to ink some more trade deals. In the meantime, the Ministry of External Affairs has remained cautious, saying today that the Indo-American partnership has “weathered several transitions and challenges” and that New Delhi is “confident that the relationship will continue to move forward”.
During a Fox News programme yesterday, US secretary of state Marco Rubio when asked about New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil said that while “ally” India needs to meet its “huge energy needs” and not everything always aligns in foreign policy, the fact that its purchases from Moscow is “helping sustain the war effort” is “most certainly a point of irritation in our relationship”. Commerce secretary Scott Bessent too remarked that India's dealings with Russia made it “not a great global actor”. Asked to comment on the matter, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated the Indian government's stance that “in securing our energy needs we are guided by what is on offer in the markets and by the prevailing global circumstances”. He said that India's “steady and time-tested” ties with Russia ought not to be seen from the “prism of a third country”.
Jaiswal also answered a question about India-US defence relations by saying that the two countries' “strong partnership” has the potential to grow further, but “the sourcing of our defence requirements is determined solely by our national security imperatives and strategic assessments”. Even though Trump has also expressed his displeasure with India's defence ties with Moscow and had claimed in February that Washington is looking to eventually sell F-35 stealth fighter jets to India, officials in the Modi government – though they are considering their options in mollifying Trump – are unlikely to buy more defence equipment from the Pentagon, and are instead interested in the ‘joint design and manufacture’ of this equipment domestically, Bloomberg reports.
Notwithstanding one view in Washington that the Trump administration and the Modi government's disagreements – among which are also India's opposition to opening up its dairy and agricultural sector to US imports, as well as New Delhi's participation in BRICS – cannot be ironed out overnight, the two sides continue to be engaged in trade talks and an American delegation is expected to visit here sometime this month, Manoj Kumar reports citing an Indian government source. The official also ruled out concessions on the dairy and agriculture front.
The aforementioned official estimated that Indian exports worth almost $40 billion to the US may be impacted by Trump's tariffs. But one area that the president's levies are unlikely to shake too much are Apple's plans to manufacture iPhones in India for sale in America. Analysts and experts believe that despite the tariff, “manufacturing iPhones in India would continue to remain cost-competitive, with expenses lower than when Apple began production there eight years ago, narrowing the cost gap with China”, Munsif Vengattil reports. Plus, Apple has made its plans from a longue duree perspective, one executive pointed out.
India is facing a new geopolitical reality, writes Mihir Sharma. He writes, “New Delhi’s confidence that it could navigate the Trump era has been well and truly shattered; it will take a long time for the relationship to recover from this tumultuous week”.
Donald Trump and his White House team are going full throttle about his claim of having brought about an end to the India-Pakistan conflict and therefore deserves the Nobel Prize for Peace. Not just that, said his press secretary Karoline Leavitt, he has brokered no less than one peace or ceasefire deal per month for the last six months. These include between Thailand and Cambodia, between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and between Israel and Iran, among others. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have repeatedly denied any outside intervention in ending the India-Pakistan conflict, but have not been able to say ‘Donald Trump’ even once.
The Election Commission of India has announced that the election to choose the next Vice-President of India will be held on September 9. According to the schedule, the last date for filing nominations is August 21, while polling will take place on September 9. The votes will be counted on the same day as the polling.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned industrialist and Reliance Group Chairperson Anil Ambani in connection with an alleged Rs 3,000 crore bank loan fraud case. Ambani has been asked to appear before ED officials at their Delhi headquarters on August 5, where his statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), according to official sources. This development comes days after the central agency concluded search operations across more than 35 locations in Mumbai linked to the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG).
Speaking of which, the ED must act impartially and ensure that information disseminated through its social media handles and platforms is accurate and free from sensationalism, Bar and Bench quotes a Delhi court as saying. Special Judge Jitendera Singh of the Rouse Avenue Court said that presenting facts in a misleading or defamatory manner could undermine the credibility of the central agency and harm the reputation of the person involved. He added that it may also amount to abuse of power and violation of the person’s fundamental rights. “It is incumbent upon an investigative agency such as the ED to act impartially and uphold the principles of fairness and due process,” Bar and Bench quoted the judge as saying. “Any dissemination of information, including but not limited to official social media platforms, must be accurate, non-misleading and free from sensationalism.” Singh made the observation while dismissing a defamation case filed by Aam Aadmi Party leader Satyendar Jain against BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj.
With repeated delays by presiding officers across the country in acting on defection pleas, the Supreme Court today called on Parliament to consider whether entrusting the task of adjudicating disqualification petitions to the Speaker or Chairperson of legislatures under the Tenth Schedule has effectively served its purpose in combating political defections. Delivering judgment on a set of petitions involving ten MLAs of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (‘BRS’) who crossed over to the Congress in March–April 2024, a bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih directed the Speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly to decide all disqualification petitions pending against the MLAs within three months from the date of the verdict. “If we do not issue any direction, it will amount to permitting the Speaker to repeat the widely criticised situation of ‘operation successful, patient died’,” Chief Justice Gavai, who authored the judgement, remarked.
Uttar Pradesh energy minister A.K. Sharma has accused the energy department’s employees of having taken out a supari (contract) against him, describing them as “anti-social elements” in a post on X. This public lashing comes two months after he first voiced concerns about being “ignored” by his department officials, prompting chief minister Yogi Adityanath to hold a review meeting. As per The Indian Express, the department officials are seeking Sharma’s removal as the energy minister. “Those who have (taken) supari of Energy Minister A.K. Sharma… are upset since (the) Energy Minister does not bow before them,” Sharma’s post on X said. He also referred to frequent protests against him during his tenure and asked why there were no protests in other departments.
Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate, caught on video for playing rummy in the Legislative Assembly has been punished-by a transfer from the agricultural ministry to becoming the minister for sports. This has left the opposition aghast and they have said that he was being rewarded instead of being punished. State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said the BJP-led government was “shameless and spineless”.
Days after a spectator was asked to leave from Old Trafford after he did not cover his Pakistan team t-shirt during the fourth India vs England Test, Lancashire have apologised for the incident. The club undertook an internal investigation and stated that a different incident of tension between some Indian and Pakistani fans at the ground influenced their handling of the situation with Farooq Nazar, the man who was ejected. “Firstly, we wish to make it clear that there was no intention to remove the individual simply for wearing a Pakistan cricket shirt,” a statement by the club read, ESPNcricinfo reports. “The approach taken was informed by an incident on Saturday, during which a group of supporters waved a Pakistan national flag, leading to tensions with nearby Indian fans … In that case, our stewards were able to de-escalate the situation by respectfully asking the individuals to put the flag away, which they did without hesitation. In light of this context, our team adopted a precautionary, safety-first approach on Sunday”.
Prajwal Revanna convicted in domestic help rape case, quantum of punishment to be announced
Former Member of Parliament and the grandson of JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda Prajwal Revanna has been found guilty of rape. Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat of the special court for elected representatives has found Prajwal guilty of sexually assaulting a farm labourer who worked for his family and for recording the assault. This is the first judgement in one of the three rape cases and one sexual harassment case against him. The quantum of the sentence will be pronounced on August 2.
The special court on April 3 had framed charges against Prajwal Revanna for sexually assaulting the farm labourer who worked for his family. The 1,625-page-long chargesheet, filed on September 14, 2024, said that the woman was sexually assaulted thrice, two times at the family’s farmhouse and once at their residence in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru.
India cannot remain a ‘mute spectator’ as WTO, WHO are undermined, argues Congress
The Congress party emphasised that India, being a major stakeholder in international institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), must not passively witness their erosion under the leadership of US President Donald Trump. Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary responsible for communications, stated that the WTO had already sustained severe setbacks during Trump’s first term. He added, “It has been destroyed during Trump-II. The rules-based, multilateral trading system put in place with the US itself playing a leadership role has been finished off.”
He further noted that Trump had significantly weakened the WHO and had also pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and UNESCO. “India has the highest stakes in such international accords and institutions. It cannot remain a mute spectator and be content with coining slogans and acronyms,” Ramesh asserted.
Canada makes first posting in India since diplomatic row, envoys may be appointed this month
Canada has made its first personnel move into India since withdrawing 41 diplomats, appointing a new head for its consulate in Mumbai – just six weeks after the countries’ prime ministers met to reset strained ties. Global Affairs Canada on Wednesday announced four diplomatic postings, including appointments to Jordan, Australia and Libya. Among them was the notice that Jeff David “will become Consul General in Mumbai (Republic of India)”, adding that David”will replace Diedrah Kelly”. The low-key announcement effectively marks the end of a freeze on diplomatic postings in Canadian missions in India that began in October 2023, when Canada pulled out 41 diplomats after New Delhi demanded parity in numbers.
The Long Cable
Modi must learn from the past to deal with Donald Trump and salvage India’s image and stature
SN Sahu
In December 1936 Mahatma Gandhi stated, “When Americans come and ask me what service they could render, I tell them: ‘If you dangle your millions before us, you will make beggars of us and demoralize us.’ But in one thing I do not mind being a beggar. I would beg of you for your scientific talent. You can ask your engineers and agricultural experts to place their services at our disposal. They must not come to us as our lords and masters but as voluntary workers.”
Those words were invoked on March 21, 2000 by the then President of India K R Narayanan in his speech at the banquet hosted in honour of US President Bill Clinton to subtly signal that the American leadership should deal with India with honour and respect.
What Gandhi said in 1936 assumed greater significance in the context of what is being imposed on India in 2025 not by an ordinary American but by US President Donald Trump who is lording over India; And Prime Minister Modi is meekly accepting it without displaying even scant courage to reject his assertions. Trump has repeated thirty times that he brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan following military hostilities between two countries after India launched Operation Sindoor.
Rahul’s Challenge to Modi
On July 26, the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi while participating in the discussion on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha challenged Modi and said that if he has half the courage of former Prime Minister late Indiara Gandhi, (who dismembered Pakistan in 1971 war disregarding US threats) he should say that Trump is a liar for his claims on brokering the ceasefire. Modi did not accept that challenge and only stated that no other world leader asked him to stop the war, thus clearly showing lack of courage to name Trump and reject his repeated assertions.
Tariff on India
The next day, a 25 per cent tariff was imposed by the US President on India with the threat of an additional unannounced penalty for India’s ongoing trade with Russia involving crude oil and military purchases. A day later he wrote on social media, “I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care”. Such condemnation of the Indian economy and contempt heaped on it is a reflection of his disdain for India’s leadership represented by Prime Minister Modi.
Adding insult to injury he stated that the US has concluded a deal with Pakistan to work together for developing the latter’s massive oil reserves and then remarked, “Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling oil to India someday!”
His statements clearly bring out his patronising and heavy handed attitude which fits into Gandhi’s description of “lords and masters” and it is sharply pronounced in the context of Modi’s submissive and meek acceptance of every word Trump utters against India. Such stunning silence that he maintains in face of Trump’s humiliating actions and statements against India when the country is militarily and economically strong flags the point that weak leadership of Modi has hugely dented India’s image at the global level.
Past Examples of Indira Gandhi’s and Nehru’s Leadership
In early 1970s when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister India was described as a country living from “ship to mouth” on account of import of massive amounts of food grains to feed millions of people facing hunger and acute deficit of cereals and pulses. India’s agreement with the USA in pursuance of its PL 480 (Public Law 480) enabled our country to get tonnes of food grains. Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi India attained self sufficiency in food grain production in 1971. M S Swaminathan, the celebrated agricultural scientist, bestowed with Bharat Ratna by the Modi Government, was one of the key figures who accelerated the green revolution during the tenure of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and ensured self-sufficiency in food production for India. Paying homage to Indira after her tragic assassination in 1984 he wrote that she unilaterally terminated the PL-480 agreement with the US and that India attaining self -sufficiency in food grain production in 1971 was more remarkable than an American walking on the moon.
It was against that backdrop Indira Gandhi showed her leadership to take on American President Richard Nixon who deployed the mighty US seventh fleet in the high seas closer to India as a deterrent against India to not take military action against Pakistan in 1971. Disregarding that coercive action and threat she decisively defeated Pakistan in the war, broke it into two pieces and helped create Bangladesh in place of East Pakistan. Nixon, trying to act as ‘lord and master’ , got the lesson from the might and majesty of Indira Gandhi who enhanced the stature of India at the global level and altered the geo-strategic environment of the subcontinent once and for all in India’s favour.
Even earlier during the formative stage of nation building in the 1950s India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru played a key role on Austria’s request to restore its freedom and sovereignty by employing diplomacy to free Austrian territory of the occupation forces of several countries including that of the erstwhile USSR.
The colossal failure of Prime Minister Modi in defending India’s image and in face of repeated statements of the US President Trump that he dictated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan is a sad commentary on Modi’s leadership qualities. And added to such a tragic episode is the imposition of 25 per cent tariff and a penalty for buying oil and military equipment from Russia. The preference of Trump for Pakistan in contrast to the humiliation he is inflicting on India could obviously encourage the Pakistani leadership to adversely act against our country. The “lord and master” syndrome of Trump is unacceptable. Modi must learn lessons from our past and grow up to deal with the challenges to salvage India’s image and stature.
(SN Sahu served as an officer on special duty to former President KR Narayanan.)
Reportedly
To all those sweating over maths and science books for months and years to score in the IIT entrance exams, here’s some good news. Now you can join the hallowed institution by joining a gurukul. Under the new ‘Setubandha’ initiative backed by the education ministry and implemented by a wing of the Central Sanskrit University, those who have studied for at least five years in a gurukul and “demonstrate excellence in the Shastras or traditional knowledge” will receive research scholarships in the IITs, Manash Gohain reports citing a ministry official. They will be eligible even if they do not have a ‘conventional degree’. Presumably one day they will graduate, and become global CEOs of top companies, just like those conventional IIT graduates have done.
Pen vs sword
Deep dive
The Bihar Model and how revising electoral rolls could disenfranchise millions and threaten their citizenship. Sagar reports how the ECI’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar could provide an opening for the ruling BJP to remake the electorate as it sees fit, while also setting the stage for a de facto NRC.
Prime number: 362
The country’s largest high court, the Allahabad high court, continues to work with only half the strength of sanctioned posts for judges, data submitted to Parliament by the union ministry of law and justice has shown. In a written reply to Congress MP Vivek Tankha, minister of state for law and justice Arjun Ram Meghwal stated this July 31 that while the sanctioned post for judges in the Allahabad high court is 160 – the highest in the country, as of this July 25 though, it is functioning at a working strength of only 80 judges. Of the total strength of 1,122 judges across 25 high courts, only 760 posts have been filled so far, and the rest of 362 positions have remained vacant.Opeds you don’t want to miss
By itself the 25 percent tariff on India by Donald Trump is not significantly higher than on Vietnam, Philippines or Indonesia, but “there is a catch: a penalty that will punish New Delhi for its “most strenuous and obnoxious” non-tariff barriers — and for buying Russian military equipment and energy,” writes Andy Mukherjee. And that puts Narendra Modi in a tight corner. Any concessions he makes will weaken him.
Amitabh Dubey argues that Nehru’s nonalignment allowed India to extract advantages from both the US and the USSR, while Modi’s version has resulted in penalties from both the US and China. India’s diplomatic setbacks, Dubey contends, are not just the result of external forces like Trump – they are the price of Modi’s narcissistic and overly personalised approach to foreign policy.
The ideological position that Hindus cannot be terrorists falls flat in the face of several other historical examples. If Hindus cannot be terrorists, was Godse not a Hindu? asks Badri Raina.
Today when the Election Commission releases its draft voter roll in Bihar, lawyer Sanjay Hegde cautions us of the danger that its special intensive revision entails: “If this continues unchecked, we are entering dangerous territory. Voting could become a privilege of the documented middle class … Political parties will then cater only to those who count – literally.”
Test cricket is not just one format among many, still less a ‘product’, writes Gideon Haigh arguing that its prosperity lies in the principle of equality.
Pavan Khera writes that Modi’s ‘Make in India’ is a case study in what happens when storytelling takes the place of strategy. From the outset, it was driven more by optics than economics – global summits, slick visuals and media blitzes took center stage. But the actual industrial machinery never arrived, Khera contends.
Listen up
The rounding up and hounding of Bengalis in many parts of India in the garb of identifying undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants is “orchestrated”, former Rajya Sabha MP and bureaucrat Jawhar Sircar says, noting that it comes against the backdrop of the BJP's “ferocious show of patriotism and Islamophobia” in West Bengal. But the ongoing drive stands to ultimately help chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has started a second ‘Bhasha Angolan’, Sircar says. Listen in on his conversation with Sidharth Bhatia here.
Watch out
In this episode of Scroll Adda Devdutt Patnaik tells Shoaib Daniyal about “why Indians might have a genius for mythology”, how “he faced censure from Brahmins for writing about Hindu scriptures as a non-Brahmin” as well as “his own experiences of growing up gay and how that informed his view on mythology”.
Over and out
Today and tomorrow The Wire is organising its ‘Urdu Hai Jiksa Naam’ festival at Delhi's Jawahar Bhavan in celebration of the language – and the news house's decennial year of publication – in which there will be panel discussions, ghazals, a film screening, a children's storytelling session, a mushaira and more. Entry is free of charge.
Urdu is also the language that Premchand initially wrote in before he switched to Hindi citing the former's declining returns. Recently the folks at the Nagari Pracharini Sabha in Varanasi during their clean-up of the premises – braving decades of built-up dust, snakes and scorpions – discovered in Premchand's handwritten partial draft of the short story Panch Parmeshwar what is perhaps the oldest existing document handwritten by him in Hindi (at 109 years old). This is one of the stories Premchand had written for a high school audience, writes the Sabha's Vyomesh Shukla.
That’s it for today. We’ll be back with you on Monday, on a device near you. If The India Cable was forwarded to you by a friend (perhaps a common friend!) book your own copy by SUBSCRIBING HERE.