Hindustan Times speaks to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar about India’s decision to buy Rafale Jets from France.
I consulted the Air Force to the extent it was required. They have no role in decision-making as ultimately it’s the Prime Minister’s call. I did discuss possibilities with the Prime Minister and he took a very bold decision which was required. If we had missed this opportunity, the entire matter would have gone into a spin and we might have had to re-start the whole procedure this year.
The Times of India reports about how the global tourism industry has described India and its Prime Minister as a growth story to reckon with.
At a time when the global tourism industry is grappling with challenges of political instability, terrorism and disruptions in technology, India and Narendra Modi have emerged as the growth story with an industry expert describing the prime minister as a “breath of fresh air”
The Indian Express reports that Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chief Rahul Khullar has stated that there is a growing need for a democratic debate on net neutrality, given the ongoing battle between a media house and a telecom operator.
The Hindu reports on how former Telecom Minister A Raja - the prime accused in the 2G spectrum case - deliberately misled the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Prosecution argued that Raja had granted spectrum to “ineligible” companies such as Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless.
The Modi Government is set to give a major boost to the e-tourist visa facility by extending it to 31 more countries and allowing foreign tourists to avail of the facility at seven more airports by June 15.
Among the countries that will benefit from the latest extension are the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Malaysia, Tanzania and Argentina.
The Times of India reports.
DNA discusses the fact that while we respect and celebrate the lives and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule - the stalwart who influenced both men - seems to have been forgotten, with just a chapter on his life in the primary school history textbooks.
The Hindu discusses how it is upon the native Kashmiris now living in the Valley to reassure the Kashmiri Pandits community of a safe return back home.
...What had begun as an ethnic conflict was soon imparted a religious colour by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The Pandits, a Hindu minority in the Kashmir Valley, were targeted by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), even though the organisation had sought to build on the original secular foundations of the National Conference, and by the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, a secessionist outfit, which sparked their exodus.
The Times of India discusses that the newly formed Janata Parivar may prove stiff competition for the BJP in the upcoming Bihar Assembly Polls.
The new party will give strength to the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad combine to take on an assertive BJP in state elections at year end. After their rout in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the two political rivals of 25 years sued for peace and saw the difference their tieup made in the ten assembly bypolls in August last year when together they won six, delivering a blow to BJP.
The Indian Express talks about how despite the National Green Tribunal’s recent orders to curb air pollution, “major reforms in environmental management are now an imperative.”
Raghav Bahl writes about how cable non-neutrality once destroyed broadcast operations. That is why neutrality in the digital space needs to be fought for.
With AAP referring the case against rebel duo Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan to the party’s disciplinary committee, the two may soon be on their way out.
The Janata Parivar merger has finally happened. But can a party with the likes of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Deve Gowda see eye-to-eye?
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