1. Why Non-Patidar Leader Vijay Rupani is Gujarat’s Chosen One
The big shocker of Friday that dominated newsrooms was the BJP’s surprise decision to choose Vijay Rupani, a non-Patidar leader as Gujarat’s new Chief Minister after Anandiben Patel’s resignation.
Going by convention, Rupani, a Jain, seems like an odd choice.
Jains, who constitute barely 1 percent of the total population of the state, don’t add up to a significant political vote bank.
While Patels or Patidars continue their agitation for reservations, experts, observers and even laymen expected the party to pick another Patidar leader.
But Rupani turned out to be the first choice of BJP President Amit Shah, who has been in the state for the last two days deliberating on the decision with other party members.
Also Read: High Voltage Drama In Gujarat; Showdown Between Shah, Anandiben
According to sources however, Shah had his reasons to pick Rupani. For starters, despite the agitation, Patidars have been loyal to the BJP in the state, and the party is confident to have them on board by the time the 2017 assembly elections roll out.
Besides, neither Anandiben nor Nitin (Patel), her right-hand, were able to contain the Patidar agitation.
Source: Hindustan Times
2. China, India’s NSG Roadblock, Wants Help With South China Sea
On a three-day tour starting 12 August, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be visiting India.
The agenda for the trip is reportedly to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn’t join the anti-China lobby on the issue of the disputed South China Sea. The meeting with Modi government is to prevent India from raising the issue, along with other countries, at the upcoming G20 summit in September.
After The Hague judgement on China’s claim on the sea didn’t go in the country’s favour (which China subsequently refused to abide by), the government seems to be worried that the United States and several other countries will bring up the issue at the G20 meet.
Also Read: South China Sea Ruling: A Chaos Seven Decades in the Making
Beijing was also not thrilled by India’s response to the International Tribunal’s verdict, saying that the UN convention should be effectively implemented, and all the relevant parties should cooperate in the effort. It does not want a discussion on the subject at G20, and doesn’t want India to join any country which is seeking a discussion.
Source: Times of India
3. I Hadn’t Gone There to Have Lunch: Rajnath on Pak Visit
Amid reports of a media blackout of Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s speech at the SAARC summit in Islamabad, Singh, in a statement in the Upper House, confirmed that the journalists who had accompanied him from India were not allowed to cover the speech.
As far as the reported blacking out of my speech is concerned, I am not aware of protocol norms followed during previous events. I will have to speak to the Ministry of External Affairs. I don’t know if it was a precedent. I cannot say anything on that, but they did what they could.Rajnath Singh, Home Minister
The Parliament strongly condemned Islamabad’s blackout of Singh’s address.
Singh also added that the Pakistan Interior Minister had invited everyone for lunch, but he didn’t attend it.
It is true that Pakistan Interior Minister (Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan) invited everyone for lunch. But then he left in his car. I also left. I have no complaints or grudges as I had not gone there to have lunch.
Source: The Indian Express
4. Assam Kokrajhar Attack: Not a Jihadi Hit, Reveals Phone of Dead Terrorist
A terror attack in Assam’s Kokrajhar district left 15 dead, including two militants. Investigations see the attack – where a group of heavily armed militants opened fire in a crowded marketplace – as the work of insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit), which changed its modus operandi to pass off the attack as an act of jihadi terror.
In Friday’s attack, the group seemed to divert attention from themselves, and direct the security forces to the jihadi outfits that have recently been acting up in the region.
The usual markers of an NDFB (S) strike is that the outfit picks its victims or targets carefully, choosing from Muslims and Adivasis but sparing the Bodos. Six of the 13 slain in the attack were Bodos.
The target and modus operandi adopted by the NDFB (S) militants marks a departure from previous attacks, such as the killing of Adivasis in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar in December 2014 or the May 2014 Assam violence that claimed the lives of 32 Muslims.Officer ofCcentral Security Establishment
The tactic could have succeeded in misleading security forces but for a phone found on one of the attackers, who was killed in security cross-firing.
On inspection, security forces found a number in the phone known to intelligence agencies as one in use by NDFB (S).
Source: Times of India
5. Local Mosques Used to Raise Pro-Freedom Slogans, Incite Youth in Kashmir: MHA to SC
The Ministry of Home Affairs submitted a report to the Supreme Court, probing the ongoing violence in the Kashmir valley in the aftermath of Burhan Wani’s death.
According to the report, the loudspeakers of “some local mosques were used to raise pro-freedom slogans and incite the youth to indulge in stone pelting/protests.”
The use of social media too remained one of the primary ways to fuel violence, according to the report, which on Friday was placed before a bench led by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur.
It also stated that 42 civilians had been killed in the violence, as the toll rises steadily while Kashmir reels under nearly a month of curfew. Two armed forces personnel were also killed, and over 2,650 people have been admitted to hospitals with injuries, while 470 of them had to undergo or are currently undergoing major surgeries.
The report further stated that nearly 300 people have suffered severe eye injuries after armed forces reportedly fired pellets. Of them, at least one-fourth have had to undergo major surgery to save their eyesight.
Source: Indian Express
6. Delhi Must Remain a Union Territory: LG Najeeb Jung
A day after the Delhi High Court ruling decreeing that the Lieutenant Governor was the “administrator” of the capital, and all decisions of the Delhi government must be communicated with him, LG Najeeb Jung said Delhi cannot be a full state, and must function as a Union Territory (UT).
Two or three years ago, as a citizen of Delhi and not knowing the system, I may have said, as a layman, “make Delhi a state. What’s bad in that?” But today, as an insider in the system and having studied it, I would say that Delhi must continue to be a UT. It just cannot be made a state.
Jung said the court ruling had made everything clear and henceforth, all decisions taken will be “legitimate and constitutional.”
In an interview to the Hindustan Times he added that a few decisions of the AAP government in the capital will be reviewed and the government will be required to “send all those files that required clearance from the L-G’s office but have not been taken as yet”.
Source: Hindustan Times
7. Bulandshahr: Third Woman Was Also Harassed, Medical Report Vague
The highway robbers who attacked and assaulted the Noida-based family on NH-91 had, contrary to earlier reports, disrobed all three females in the car, and not just two, on the night of 30 July.
The third woman, the wife of the older brother, was also physically attacked and harassed sexually. But no medical examination was conducted of her after the heinous incident.
In yet another serious lapse in the case, the government doctors conducting the medical examination at the Bulandshahr hospital failed to give a definitive opinion, despite finding multiple injuries on the targeted family,
The report states severe injuries on both the arms of the mother and daughter and the presence of two injuries on the minor girl’s private parts.
Despite making a note of injuries, the doctor in her final report said it “may be a case of sexual assault”.
Source: Times of India
8. Kashmir: 3 More Killed in Fresh Firings, Death Toll Rises to 55
In fresh firings, three civilians in the Kashmir valley were killed and around 150 were injured as rapidly escalating protests spread over large parts of Kashmir valley and the Muslim areas of Jammu. Internet was blocked again on Friday.
Following Friday prayers, around 45 places in the valley’s 10 districts saw anti-government rallies.
Two civilians were killed in Budgam district in central Kashmir, a relatively less volatile district, while one student was killed in clashes in Baramulla’s Sopore area.
With these deaths, the toll has risen to 55 in the aftermath of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s death, which has unleashed massive public reaction.
In Kupwara and Baramulla districts in north Kashmir, medical emergencies had to be declared as the hospitals struggled to accommodate the rush of protesters.
Source: The Hindu
9. Same Story Every Year: Mumbai Rains Hit Road, Rail and Air Traffic
It’s same story every year for Mumbai! Heavy rains since Friday morning, at a rate of over 50 mm per hour, flooded many parts of India’s financial capital, disrupting rail, road and air traffic. This coincided with a high-tide warning issued for the same day, crippling the drainage system of the city.
The downpour led to massive water-logging in parts of south and central Mumbai as well as eastern and western suburbs, leading to major traffic snarls in the morning peak hour. Owing to the weather, all arrivals and departures at Mumbai airport were delayed by up to 30 minutes till 8pm.
Schools in Dadar, Parel, Santacruz and Marine Lines were forced to send kids back to their homes due to the increasing danger of flooding, with the School Bus Owners’ Association (SBOA) refusing to ply buses in the afternoon on account of city-wide water-logging.
Read The Quint’s full coverage here.
Also Read: #MumbaiRains Lash the City Leaving Twitterati In A Fix
From The Quint
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)