India’s Forex Reserves Shrank Fastest Among Emerging Economies; Aborted CEL Sale Should Urge Govt to Review Disinvestment Policy, Process

Minority Affairs ministry may go, AFSPA extended in Nagaland, Arunachal, wilderness slashed for ‘Man vs Wild’, the priest who installed Ram idols in Babri, Maharashtra govt says hello to Vande Mataram

A newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas | Contributors: MK Venu, Seema Chishti, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia, Sushant Singh and Tanweer Alam | Editor: Pratik Kanjilal

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Snapshot of the day

October 3, 2022

Pratik Kanjilal

Our top link for today is this reported essay on how China has outmanoeuvred the Modi government and seized control of territory along the LAC by Sushant Singh. The sharp deterioration in ties is also visible in the Rs 5,551.27 crore seized from Xiaomi India which, the Enforcement Directorate has confirmed, was illegally transferred abroad. Reportedly, India was able to “foil” China’s bid, denying it the mandate it needed at the International Atomic Energy Agency to bring a resolution to oppose AUKUS. So the MEA put out. In fact, Brazil played a key role too.

The Indian government is staying with Russian President Vladimir Putin in international fora. It abstained from the UN vote on Russia’s annexations in Ukraine. India’s UN ambassador Ruchira Kamboj merely said that we are “deeply disturbed” by the recent turn of events in Ukraine. Also, the US has sanctioned Mumbai-based petrochemicals company Tibalaji, for ‘clandestine’ Iran oil purchases, the first Indian company to be targeted. That was a day after Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to the US.

India’s Mars Orbiter craft is out of fuel and its battery is flat, meaning that the country’s maiden interplanetary mission Mangalyaan is over. The Rs 450 crore mission was launched on board a PSLV-C25 on November 5, 2013, and the MOM spacecraft was successfully inserted into Martian orbit on September 24, 2014 in the first attempt. “The link has been lost,” ISRO told PTI after the orbiter’s power ran out. Another Mars mission is still on the drawing board.

The Modi government is the first in independent India without Muslim representation, after the departure of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Now, it is likely to scrap the Ministry of Minority Affairs — established by the UPA government in 2006 — and merge it with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, says Deccan Herald. All its schemes will continue after the merger. Ministry officials refused to comment.

The Twitter account of the Government of Pakistan was withheld in India on Saturday. WhatsApp has banned over 23.28 lakh Indian accounts in August.

In a notice marking “the advent of officially mandated censorship”, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked social media platforms – and by extension all news organisations which share news via social media – to “remove any and all content (either in the form of a text message, audio, video, photo or any other form) related to [a particular] organisation in the interest of security of the state and to prevent any incitement and disruption of public order.” The particular organisation is the Popular Front of India, which is now banned. The Centre has accorded ‘Y’ category security cover to five right-wing leaders in Kerala, where the PFI was prominent.

The Maharashtra government has directed officials to say “Vande Mataram” instead of “hello” on the phone. The Government Resolution issued by the General Administration Department states officials should also create awareness among people who meet them, to use ‘Vande Mataram’ as a greeting.

Mithilesh Kumar Gautam, guest lecturer at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith in Varanasi, has been dismissed and prohibited to enter the campus after his Facebook post on fasting during Navratri. In Hindi, Gautam wrote: “Instead of fasting for nine days during Navratri, it would be better if women read the Indian Constitution and Hindu Code Bill for nine days. [Then] their life would be liberated from slavery and fear. Jai Bhim.” He says he has been fired for being Dalit.

Core sector growth slumped to a nine-month low in August, in a slowdown three months long, Ministry of Commerce and Industry data showed on Friday. Only fertilisers posted double-digit growth in output.  

Expenditure on new projects has slowed for two quarters running. There were new projects worth Rs 4.39 trillion in the June quarter (Q1FY23) and Rs 8.46 trillion in the March quarter (Q4FY22), but only Rs 3.26 trillion in July-September, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. Spends on new projects declined 4.4% year-on-year, from Rs 3.41 trillion in Q2FY22. 

ONGC, a jewel among PSUs, does not have a regular head. It has made do with three interim CMDs for the past 18 months. This has raised questions about the Centre’s intent, and if no suitable candidates exist, and investors are alienated.

Flanked by Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal, the PM proclaimed that 5G was a “gift” to Indians, though it is a paid service, and state carrier BSNL, will offer it only in August 2023. Bharti Airtel launched 5G services in eight cities, including Delhi and Kolkata, on Saturday. Reliance Jio plans to launch before Diwali in four metros. No tariff plan for 5G has been revealed. Cash-strapped Vodafone Idea has not offered a timeline. In September 2016, the PM featured as brand ambassador for Jio in a controversial ad campaign that the PMO tried to distance itself from later. Reliance faced Rs 500 as penalty. 

A recent response sought under the Right to Information Act dated September 30 reveals that the Delhi government approved the Rs 1 crore compensation for families of health workers who died handling Covid-19 patients to only 17 beneficiaries. Officially, 177 healthcare workers died of Covid-19 in Delhi. Earlier RTI responses had revealed that 56 doctors, 13 nurses, 16 paramedical staff and 92 safai karamcharis died on pandemic duty.

The Uttarakhand government’s Pakhru tiger safari project is under the scanner after the Forest Survey Of India reported that over 6,000 trees were illegally cut in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, though the safari is allowed to cut only 163. This was to guarantee tiger sightings for shooting or the TV programme ‘Man vs Wild’. 

Is ‘Exploring the forest and mapping its archaeology: Bandhavgarh National Park and Tiger Reserve, India’, by Nayanjot Lahiri et al the basis for what ASI is claiming as its own research on the study of human habitations in forest areas where excavations are not usually possible? Ashoka University, where Lahiri teaches, has written to the Ministry of Culture. ASI has said it never claimed to be the first to study this area.  

“Modi government didn’t even say thanks,” says Tapati Guha Thakurta, the historian behind the UNESCO tag for Kolkata’s Durga Puja, which is now in full swing. She describes the Union government’s claim that PM Modi made the honour possible as “ridiculous”.

Telangana has won the first prize under the large states category under the Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2022 which looks into the sanitation status of rural areas.

A year ago, The Reporters’ Collective came up with a virtual space to commemorate lives lost during the pandemic. The memorial is now ready. 

Non-Resident Indians, especially Keralites, who constitute the largest share of the Gulf diaspora, are elated at the shake-up of United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s immigration policy which comes into effect today. Degree holders no longer need a sponsor or host for a job exploration visa.

The term of Satyapal Malik in Meghalaya, the only governor appointed by the Modi government who speaks his mind about Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, ends today.