1. Amit Shah Calls on Uddhav Thackeray
The Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah called on Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday, 6 June, at his residence where both leaders held discussions for over two hours.
Though Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis accompanied Shah to Matoshree, he was kept out of the talks. The BJP’s state unit chief, Raosaheb Danve, was not involved at all.
Wednesday’s meeting was part of Shah’s efforts to reach out to allies ahead of the 2019 general elections. The marathon meeting was meant to amend the ongoing bickering and tension between both parties and an attempt to get Sena to withdraw its decision to go solo in future elections.
While none of the leaders spoke to the media after the meeting, sources within the Sena said the BJP chief heard out the grievances of Thackeray.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Pranab Mukherjee’s Daughter Disapproves of Decision to Attend RSS Event
A day before former president Pranab Mukherjee addresses a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event at its headquarters in Nagpur, his daughter and Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee took to Twitter to warn him of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “dirty tricks department” on Wednesday, 6 June.
She wrote that the veteran leader’s decision had given the BJP and its ideological parent, RSS, “full handle” to plant rumours and false stories. She also cautioned her father that his speech “will be forgotten”, but the visuals “will be circulated with fake statements.”
Sharmistha, who unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Delhi Assembly election on a Congress ticket, turned to Twitter to dispel rumours that she may join the BJP. She said she would rather quit politics than join the BJP.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Will Waive Farmers’ Debts in 10 Days: Rahul Gandhi in Mandsaur
Addressing a rally on Wednesday, 6 June, in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur on the first anniversary of the farmers’ agitation which left six persons dead, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi “guaranteed” to waive farmers’ debt within 10 days if his party comes to power in the state. Madhya Pradesh goes to polls later this year.
“From this stage, I want to tell farmers in Mandsaur and these families (of those killed last year), and with Kamal Nath and (Jyotiraditya) Scindia (as witnesses), I want to assure you that within 10 days of the Congress forming a government in Madhya Pradesh, your debts will be waived. It won’t take a day more, I guarantee it,” Rahul said.
On 6 June last year, six persons were killed in Mandsaur, allegedly in police firing, when they were protesting in demand of fair price for their produce, among other issues. Before his address, Rahul met the families of some of the victims, and paid respects to the six, whose photos were kept on the stage.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Karnataka Gets a Cabinet, Congress, JD(S) Rebellions
Two weeks after HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in with great fanfare as CM of Karnataka, he finally got a 25-member Cabinet with 15 from Congress and 10 from JD(S) taking oath as ministers on Wednesday, 6 June. But almost immediately, challenges facing the JD(S)-Congress combine became apparent as dissidence reared its ugly head in both the parties.
Congress high command's imprint was all over the party's list as many heavyweights of the previous Siddaramiah government were given the boot. HK Patil, Ramalinga Reddy, R Roshan Baig, MB Patil and Tanveer Sait were dropped leading to protests from their followers.
MB Patil, who spearheaded the ill-fated move to give Lingayats a separate religion status, took exception to his omission and threatened to quit the party. Congressmen Krishna Byregowda and Vinay Kulkarni were deputed to pacify him.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Rajasthan Is a Two-Party State: Sachin Pilot
Amid a growing chorus for Opposition parties to close ranks and put up united candidates against the BJP in key battle states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where elections are due around November-December, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot has pointed out that “Rajasthan has largely been a two-party state.”
He, however, stressed on Opposition unity at the national level for 2019.
“It’s always been a contest between the BJP and the Congress [in Rajasthan]. In the last four-and-a-half years, Congress party has improved its vote share in every by-election and in the recent by-elections of Ajmer and Alwar, they [BJP] were defeated comprehensively. Nationally, of course, we are looking at defeating the BJP/NDA, and that will happen when we all work together. And the Congress has to be the pivot around which Opposition parties will collate,” Pilot told The Hindu.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Maternal Mortality Drops to 130, Kerala Top
India has registered significant improvement in an area where it has lagged — maternal deaths have reduced from 167 in 2011-13 to 130 (per 100,000 live births) in 2014-16, with Kerala leading the table, according to new data released by the Registrar General of India.
The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) provides a measure of the quality of safe deliveries and maternal care and India's healthcare services have lagged in this respect in comparison to neighbours like China, Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The decline has been most significant in the "empowered action group (EAG)" states and Assam, from 246 to 188, in the last three years. These are states where economic and development indicators are a particular concern, like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Undaunted, Doctor Performs Last Rites for Nipah Victims
He gets frantic calls from home almost every day, a worried wife asking him to be careful about his health. But RS Gopakumar, health officer attached to the Kozhikode Corporation, seems fearless in the face of the unexpected outbreak of Nipah virus infection, even going to the extent of carrying the coffins and lighting the pyre of some of those who died of the rare disease.
When 25-year-old Rasin succumbed to the infection on 31 May, there was no one to perform his last rites. His father had passed away and his mother was in the isolation ward of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, with suspected symptoms.
“I asked Rasin’s mother if I could perform the final rites as per Hindu religious beliefs. She said yes. I carried the pall to the crematorium and lit the pyre and performed the rituals,” he said. The staff of the Ivor Madhom crematorium on the banks of the Bharathappuzha in Thrissur district helped him.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. New Militant Recruits Not Driven by Ideology: J&K Police
“The new age militant comes from a middle-class family with all the ingredients of a normal Kashmiri family. He has Hanafiya inclination and not Salafi (or Wahabi), has been educated in government schools and not madrasas. This militant is not a child from a broken family. His age is between 15 and 25 years, is unmarried, has no substantial criminal antecedents and has behaviour as normal as a guy next door. There is hardly any early indication of him being drifted towards armed militancy.”
This is how a 74-page confidential report — based on a detailed study conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) — has profiled local youths in the Valley who have become militants.
Titled Radicalisation and Terrorism in J&K — a Study, the report has also debunked the traditional understanding of Kashmir’s militancy and sought a rethink. “One noticeable outcome of this study is that this wave of fresh recruitments is not based or driven by ideology as the surge is only seen in South Kashmir and there too in identifiable areas. If it would have been ideology driven, then pan-Kashmir footprints would have been seen,’’ says the report.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. CBI Questions Chidambaram in INX Media Case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday, 6 June, questioned former finance minister P Chidambaram for four hours in the INX Media case involving his son Karti Chidambaram, in which the senior Congress leader is being treated as a "suspect.”
Asserting that Chidambaram senior was summoned under Section 41A of CrPC, which is a usually sent to a suspect, CBI sources said that he may be called again for questioning as he was the one who "approved" the FIPB proposal of INX Media.
The Enforcement Directorate had questioned P Chidambaram in Aircel-Maxis case on Tuesday.
Immediately after coming out of the CBI headquarters, P Chidambaram tweeted, "Appeared before CBI. FIR contains no allegations against me." He added in another tweet, "Questions and answers were based on the files of FIPB. Hence, there was little to add to the record.”
(Source: The Times of India)
More From The Quint:
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)