Ethics Panel Makes Haste to Demand Mahua Moitra's Expulsion; As Modi Government Tames Twitter, Free Speech Concerns Mount
AstraZeneca faces UK lawsuits, more South Asians decline Kamala Harris’ Diwali invite over US Israel policy, Mahadev case urgency shows who's in trouble in Chhattisgarh, how Jodhpurs reached Wehrmacht
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by MK Venu, Seema Chishti, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sushant Singh, Sidharth Bhatia and Tanweer Alam | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK | Editor: Pratik Kanjilal
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Snapshot of the day
November 9, 2023
Pratik Kanjilal
The Modi government is increasingly having its way with US tech giants but Twitter is proving to be especially craven, an investigatve story by the Washington Post finds. “A company that not long ago adopted the risky strategy of fighting government censorship in the Indian courts now consistently bends to official demands. It has repeatedly taken down posts critical of Modi and his administration and accounts belonging to journalists and the BJP’s political opponents.
“The [stuff] that they’re doing in India should be freaking everybody out,” said a former U.S. Twitter policy staffer.”
The full story is worth the read.
The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee – which said it was investigating allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra but which chose not to question the businessman at the centre of the controversy or allow her to cross-examine him – has recommended her expulsion from the House, reports NDTV. The committee has also recommended a “legal, intensive, institutional and time-bound investigation”. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has also said that the Lokpal has ordered a CBI probe.
Moitra was quick to pick up on the irony of where the leaked report first surfaced: the news channel is now owned by the Adani group, whose dealings she has been questioning. “Glad to see Adani TV has a copy of Unethical Standing Committee Report BEFORE it is placed before Committee tomorrow,” she tweeted. “Just like Lokpal referrals announced via the hired help.” “Modi Adani Bhai Bhai. Sabh Institutions Bye Bye,” she added. It is also unusual for the press to gain access to a report before Parliament has access to it. In fact, it is a breach of privilege.
With the unanimous passage of the Bihar reservation bill, reservations in the state have climbed from 50% to 65%. Reservations under other legislations make the effective rate 75%, says Indian Express ― one out of four government jobs in Bihar is for the general category.
While talks on an FTA continue, the UK will put India on a ‘safe states list’, which would preclude asylum-seekers from the country and speed up the repatriation of Indians illegally staying in the UK.
The US has decided to provide $553 million for the development of Colombo Port’s West Container Terminal (WCT), in which the Adani Group has a majority stake, in competition with China’s growing footprint in Sri Lanka. Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) owns 51% of the WCT. Its partners in the venture are the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and John Keells Holdings, a Lankan conglomerate.
Chinese ‘research’ vessels are docking in larger numbers in Sri Lanka not only to collect strategic information, but also to explore the natural resources of the Indian Ocean in that region. The Gulf of Mannar features very rich biodiversity, for instance, says the Economic Times.
Sobering videos show the armed Meitei militia Arambai Tenggol doing a sort of roadshow in the Imphal Valley. Is N Biren Singh’s government really in charge?
https://twitter.com/Mangminthang199/status/1722242140057833664
For the second time, Kerala has moved the Supreme Court concerning legislation that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has kept in limbo for two years.
For the first time since it seized power in 2021, the military junta in Myanmar faces serious resistance in Shan state, and has lost access to all roads to China. It fears that the country may be sundered unless the conflict stops.
Goaded to action by the Supreme Court, Punjab may replace Pusa-44, the variety of rice whose stubble is now being burned in Punjab, destroying the air quality of the National Capital Region. Environmental concerns may not be the only factor promoting a shift to Pusa-2090, a hybrid developed at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute which is fast-growing and high-yielding. Earlier, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had said that it would be “banned” from 2024.
A survey of more than 2,000 doctors and dentists practising in the UK had found that 58% of foreign doctors face “thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism at work”. These “racist microaggressions” include “patients refusing to be treated by them or having their abilities doubted because of their skin colour”, says The Guardian. This may have material consequences in cases of malpractice.
Why have China and India ― who are now regional rivals ― not been recognised as responsible nuclear powers? Despite that, why do they persist in following responsible behaviour? Two researchers in the UK – Nicola Leveringhaus and Kate Sullivan de Estrada – suggest that while being responsible actors, they pose an indirect political, social and social challenge to the old nuclear order laid out during the Cold War. They’re taking the game out of the hands of the Western powers.
The New York Times knows its differential diagnosis: “Vivek Ramaswamy loves his heritage. Just don’t call him an Indian American.”
Families of two people in the UK who suffered serious adverse effects after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine have launched test lawsuits against the pharma giant in the UK High Court, which suggest that the safety claims made for the vaccine were vastly overrated, and which will call for reparation. They could “pave the way for as many as 80 damages claims worth an estimated £80 million over a new condition known as Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis (VITT),” says the UK Telegraph. The vaccine is manufactured in India as Covishield.
After Canadian poet Rupi Kaur declined an invitation to a Diwali reception hosted by US Vice President Kamala Harris, “a growing number of South Asian celebrities, influencers and public figures” are following suit, reports the Wall Street Journal .including the investor-entrepreneur Anjula Acharia. They are disturbed by the Biden administration’s refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, despite the huge civilian toll being taken by Israeli bombing, and the almost complete destruction of the city.
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has had to stick up for a candidate for the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) exam who was bizarrely invalidated because she had ended an essay on the need to conserve natural resources with the common closing salutation, “Jai Hind”. The examiner had found it “irrelevant” and “impertinent”. Perhaps they do not know that ‘impertinent’ does not mean ‘not pertinent’.
Army to base more air assets facing China
The Indian Army plans to reinforce its air capabilities in the Himalayas with two new Aviation Brigades along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, reports the Chandigarh Tribune. Currently, of three Aviation Brigades, two are focused on the LAC, enhancing surveillance, troop transport, anti-tank warfare and air support capabilities. The Army aims to increase its inventory to around 500 helicopters, including 90 light combat helicopters and the Israeli UAV Hermes. This upgrade, including the anticipated delivery of light utility helicopters, is expected to significantly boost reconnaissance and surveillance, strengthening India’s position in the region.
Indian hacker group targets Qatar
After attacking networks in Canada and Palestine, the hacker collective ‘Indian Cyber Force’ has taken credit for a comprehensive cyber attack on Qatar’s key government e-commerce systems, and have defaced an official online portal. They substantiated their claim with a screenshot showing the portal’s message stating it was “temporarily down.”
While there was no official confirmation, the Indian Cyber Force stated on the dark web that their cyberattack lasted for two hours. It was in response to the award of the death penalty to eight retired Indian naval officers held in the country.
Meanwhile, the MEA says India has filed an appeal against the death penalty in the Qatar courts.
Voters want competence from candidates
Could effective policy implementation alter political choices by encouraging voters to place a higher emphasis on leader competence than on factors like gender? According to new research that examined “the impact of a successful school-expansion programme on the likelihood of women being elected to state legislatures in India,” such programs elevated the importance of leadership competence over gender, resulting in an increase in the proportion of women among candidates and state parliamentarians, ultimately enhancing the overall capabilities of elected officials.
YES Kerala says no to gender freedoms
Unaware – or defiant – of the Supreme Court’s judgement that queer persons also have the right to a dignified life, a self-proclaimed ‘anti-woke’ organisation named the Youth Enrichment Society of Kerala (better known as ‘YES Kerala’) has been spreading disinformation and hate about the LGBT community, The News Minute reports. Its members made posters and pamphlets targeting the community ahead of a pride march in Malappuram on October 29-30, claiming that homosexual people are more susceptible to STDs and that trans women were “disguising themselves as women” to enter the washrooms of “our sisters and daughters”. Some of its foot soldiers bullied queer people in person on the eve of the march. Fortunately, timely police and administrative action helped contain YES Kerala’s nefarious designs – but TNM finds they remain undeterred.
Contradictory rules keep out EWS faculty from central univs
Almost all faculty positions for associate professors and professors in Central universities under the Economically Weaker Section quota remain vacant for want of qualified candidates, due to a bizarre discrepancy between conditions imposed by the government. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions specifies a total annual family income limit of Rs 8 lakhs for EWS candidates in government jobs. The University Grants Commission specifies that to be directly recruited as associate professor or professor, a candidate should have worked as an assistant professor for at least eight years, in which case their income would be above the magic figure.
“This contradiction renders everyone ineligible for recruitment as associate professor or professor,” says Indian Express. “As on July 1, 2023, of the 35 Central universities with sanctioned EWS faculty posts, 31, including premier institutions like Delhi University, Hyderabad Central University (HCU), University of Allahabad, and Pondicherry University, have failed to fill even a single position at the associate professor and professor level.”
The Long Cable
Mahadev case urgency shows who’s in trouble in Chhattisgarh
Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
A routine case of financial fraud by an online betting platform being probed by the Enforcement Directorate has snowballed into a political controversy, a case study in the current political climate.
The little-known Mahadev bookie app shot into the limelight in October when the ED summoned top Bollywood actors for questioning ― Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Heena Khan, Kapil Sharma and others. They had promoted the app that was said to have laundered crores of rupees through illegal betting.
The ED claimed that it first noticed the app’s promoters Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, two people in Bhilai who ran a juice shop, for hosting an opulent Rs 200 crore wedding ceremony in the UAE. Several people were arrested as the ED claimed a nexus between the promoters and several franchises. It was said that Chandrakar and Uppal were making around Rs 200 crore per day.
Since the probe began in July 2022, the ED had not mentioned the possible involvement of politicians in illegal betting. Come November 3, four days before the first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, the BJP’s central media convenor and Prayagraj MLA Sidharth Nath Singh released a video clip in which a person who called himself Shubham Soni claimed to be the real owner of Mahadev and alleged that he had paid Rs 508 crore in bribes to Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel through his media advisor Vinod Verma and an IPS officer.
Soni said that he had released the video from Dubai and lashed out at Baghel for failing to protect him despite taking kickbacks. He also claimed that he founded the app in 2021 and paid bribes to seek protection from the state government, and that he had met Baghel, who advised him to move to Dubai.
Hours later, the ED named Baghel as a suspect in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act case. The statement said that a forensic analysis of the video clip and a statement made by a “cash courier” arrested in Raipur with a little over Rs 5 crore have led to “startling allegations” that the Mahadev app promoters have paid Rs 508 crore to the Chhattisgarh CM, but added that “these are a subject matter of investigation”.
Meanwhile, media reports indicated that Chandrakar and Uppal, who were projected as the real promoters of the betting app, claimed innocence and sought the government’s help in cooperating in the case.
Chandrakar, Uppal and Soni are absconding but the allegations gave enough fodder to the BJP to hit out at Baghel. It alleged that the Congress has been using “hawala” money to fund its election campaign in Chhattisgarh. PM Modi also stoked the controversy by talking about it in his election speeches.
Baghel said that he had never met any of these three suspects, and false allegations were being made ahead of elections. He put the BJP-led Union government in a spot by asking why such illegal online betting platforms were not banned, if they were a matter of concern. The Modi government blocked the Mahadev app along with 20 other betting platforms only on November 6, though it had been under the ED scanner since July 2022.
The Congress high command has been rallying behind Baghel. Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal have slammed the Modi government for misusing central investigation agencies for political gains. They say that allegations against Baghel are not backed by proof, and wrote to the Election Commission of India for intervening in the “smear campaign” during elections.
The grand old party also highlighted a video clip that recently surfaced in which top BJP leader and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s son Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar is seen speaking with a person claiming to be from the mining industry. The two talk about opening five bank accounts to which money amounting to Rs 100 crore could be transferred. The Congress demanded that the ED should also probe the video clip to prevent Devendra’s father, Narendra Tomar, using illegal money to fund his election campaign. Tomar is contesting the Assembly elections from Dimani, Madhya Pradesh.
Baghel is the latest Opposition leader to come under the ED scanner. Earlier, different investigation agencies had conducted raids on his aides in Chhattisgarh, and he had alleged that it was at the BJP’s behest, without any proof.
However, each time these raids happened, BJP leaders issued details, which ideally the ED should have shared with the Indian public, and later used them for their party’s political campaign. Over the last decade, it has become a routine affair for the investigation agencies to clamp down on Opposition leaders ahead of elections. These episodes receive disproportionate attention in the media, following which BJP routinely amplifies them for hitting out at Opposition leaders.
An astounding 95% of the cases probed by the ED and the CBI against political leaders are from the Opposition. The ED claims that it has a high conviction rate of 96%. However, the figure looks drastically misplaced if we take into account the number of cases it has closed since 2005. As of March 2023, the ED registered 5,906 cases but has managed to complete the probe and file a chargesheet in only 1,142 cases. It has disposed of only 25 cases, a mere 0.42%. Of these, it has secured convictions in 24 cases ― the 96% conviction rate the ED claims.
The Opposition leaders’ charge of vendetta gains greater strength as cases against their number who later joined the BJP have received little attention from the agencies. Opposition leaders say it is the BJP’s “washing machine” at work, and once one joins the saffron party, the cases against them are barely pursued.
The recent excise policy case against AAP leaders had a pattern very similar to the one that unfolded against Baghel. In both, BJP leaders have been the first to reveal important details about the case. The ED released its statements only after the BJP accused Opposition leaders. They have pointed out the pattern, and claim that the government agencies and the BJP are operating as a nexus.
Almost all pre-poll election surveys give the victory to Baghel. The last-minute allegations against him in a case that had no political angle earlier may be a desperate move by the BJP to corner the incumbent chief minister.
Prime Number: From 722 per year to 82 in a decade
At a rally in Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Modi said that whenever the Congress comes to power, incidents of terrorism and Maoist violence increase. He accused the grand old party of failing to contain Maoist violence in the poll-bound state. However, according to data on the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) website, there has been a decline in the number of civilians killed by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) since 2010 in the region. Civilian deaths decreased consistently over the past few years, from 722 in 2010 to 82 in 2022.
Deep Dive
China and India, as emerging nuclear powers, have actively sought recognition as responsible actors in the global nuclear order since the 1990s. However, why haven’t India and China received recognition for their nuclear restraint? In an academic article published by Cambridge University Press, Nicola Leveringhaus and Kate Sullivan de Estrada argue that “the conferral of status as a nuclear responsible is a politicised process shaped by the interests, values, and perceptions of powerful stakeholder states in the global nuclear order. China’s and India’s innovations are not incorporated into the currently accepted set of responsible nuclear behaviours because, indirectly, they pose a strategic, political, and social challenge to these states. However, China’s and India’s innovations are significant as an insight into their identity-projection and preferred social roles as distinctive rising powers, and as a means of introducing new, if nascent, ideas into non-proliferation practice and governance.”
Opeds you don’t want to miss
Nitish Kumar’s speech in the Assembly gives women access to one more method of contraception. No matter how rudimentary, it is worth more than a few laughs. The outrage can be reserved for more deserving causes, writes Abantika Ghosh.
The ‘loss and damage’ talks reflect the effects of climate change that cannot be put right. Indu K Murthy provides a detailed backgrounder on an element in climate talks whose importance will grow.
How much Indian black money is stashed away in Swiss banks? Nearly $1 trillion, according to R Vaidyanathan’s Black Money and Tax Havens. Read an excerpt here.
The Agnipath scheme, which has reduced a career in uniform to a four-year tour of duty with no benefits, is turning young people away from the military to paramilitary forces and state police, which assure long-term employment and pensions, says Major General (Retired) Yash Mor.
Tamil indentured labour landed in Sri Lanka 200 years ago this month. Shashi Tharoor speaks about their colonial exploitation and a process of othering which prevented their assimilation.
Listen up
The Indian diaspora had flourished remarkably in Canada, and New Delhi had become a major factor in Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy. But India-Canada relations are in free fall after the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. On Grand Tamasha, listen to Sanjay Ruparelia on how we got here, how far bilateral ties have sunk and what’s ahead.
Watch out
On The News Minute, Clifton D’Rozario, a labour lawyer, CPI(ML) Liberation leader and All India Central Council of Trade Unions National Secretary, has strong views about NR Narayana Murthy’s notion of a nationalist 70-hour work week.
Over and out
The pioneering woman flyer Amelia Earhart, Queen Elizabeth II and Adolf Hitler share an unexpected connection that leads us to the arid landscapes of western India, particularly the Marwar region. This thread from The Paperclip looks into the history of Jodhpurs, equestrian gear which became fashion wear and also influenced the Wehrmacht uniform.
That’s it for today. We’ll be back with you tomorrow, 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.