1. BJP Chief Opens Doors to Workers
Upping his ante for all upcoming state elections, BJP Chief Amit Shah is seriously taking stock of the communication gap between the party and its workers. The Indian Express discusses this exercise.
Their demands may vary, but the message is clear: the party leadership cannot take workers for granted and a communication gap between the two would reflect in the upcoming electoral tests. It was the RSS that, sensing the growing discontent among workers over the functioning of the leadership, suggested that the party leadership initiate efforts.
2. Amid Debate Over Graphic Warnings on Cigarette Packs, War on Tobacco to be Waged in Textbooks
The Hindustan Times reports that in order to deter potential and existing consumers of cigarettes - one third of whom are children - the HRD Ministry, at the behest of the Health Ministry is likely to make the ill effects of tobacco consumption a part of school curricula.
Health minister JP Nadda will ask the human resource development ministry to include tobacco-related health information in the school curriculum for students aged between 12 and 15 years, when they were first likely to start use.
3. Government Moves to Clear the Air
Given the escalating levels of air pollution in India’s major cities, the Centre is set to bring out an index that will gauge pollution levels.
The Air Quality Index may prove to be a major impetus to improving air quality in urban areas, as it will improve public awareness in cities to take steps for air pollution mitigation.
–Prakash Javadekar
The Hindu reports.
4. RSS Must Expand to Serve All Sections of Society: Bhagwat
The New Indian Express reports how the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has only social service on its mind, with the party looking at expanding its base to reach out to society.
Whether somebody is a Sangh swayamsewak or not, Hindu or not, this has nothing to do with service. We in the Sangh believe that anyone who is needy needs service.
–Mohan Bhagwat
5. Pay Rs 372cr in TDS, SC Tells Kingfisher Air
The carrier has already gone asunder. However, the Apex court has dealt another blow to Kingfisher Airlines, The Times of India reports.
In a major setback to Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines, the Supreme Court on Monday directed it to pay around Rs 372 crore to the income tax department for non-payment for tax deducted at source (TDS) from the salaries of its employees to the government.
6. Did BMC Ignore Fire Temples While Preparing Development Plan?
DNA talks about how an already shrinking Parsi community in Mumbai has much to worry about, with the Municipal Corporation having excluded the city’s Fire Temples from its development plan.
Several Parsi agiaries (fire temples) have not been marked in the city’s development blueprint, which provides for the city’s land use plan for the next 20 years from now.
7. General in Mufti- The Difficult Transition from Soldiering to Ministership
The former Army Chief is controversy’s favourite child. While the brouhaha over his presence at the Pakistan High Commission on the country’s National Day has now died down, Brijesh D Jayal - a retired Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force sheds light on this transition from the Defence Forces to Politics, inThe Telegraph.
From what one gathers, a decision to depute Singh to attend the Pakistan Day function was taken at the highest levels in spite of his reluctance to attend. The inflated attention in the media regarding this decision clearly caught both the government and Singh by surprise. His subsequent tweets on duty and disgust appear to have been attempts to distance himself from the decision to attend, which, in turn, added grist to the mill.
Also read: The Many Controversies of VK Singh
8. Je Suis Kenyan: My Outrage and Yours
Pratap Bhanu Mehta ponders in The Indian Express on the debate over selective outrage, which has been reignited after the brutal terror strike in Kenya.
…outrage, sometimes a legitimate tool of moral resistance, is now used for the opposite effect: to obfuscate and render invisible the very things that should make our blood boil.
9. NJAC: Expand judicial Reforms
The Times of India discusses the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, as the Supreme Court gets ready to take a crucial decision on pleas against National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act today.
It cannot be over-emphasised that judicial decisions should solely be based on evidence and law and not be influenced by what Modi calls perception.
From The Quint
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Showcased earlier this year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the ELIFE S7 now comes to India at a price tag of Rs 24,999. Here are a few reasons to buy this smartphone.
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