Innholdsfortegnelse for Monday, October 30, 2023 i India Today

Amid heated debates on federal directives, new norms introduced by India’s medical education regulator are inviting another round of allegations about the Centre attempting to encroach upon the rights of the southern states. The issue rose to its full potential for controversy when, on October 4, Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi protesting an August 16 National Medical Commission (NMC) notification. Limiting the number of MBBS seats in any state/Union Territory (UT) to 100 per one million population, the notification in effect prevents the southern states from opening new medical colleges or adding more MBBS seats by expanding old ones. This bizarre outcome comes about because, going by the 100 per million criterion, all the southern states have already exceeded their limits. If forced…

A wall of water hurtling down mountains towards vulnerable valleys nestled within—this worst nightmare of Himalayan states came true for Sikkim on October 4 when the waters of the Lhonak lake in north Sikkim, situated at an altitude of 5,245 metres, burst forth and flooded regions in the Teesta river basin, killing many and washing away roads and bridges downstream. Moreover, the mass of water swept away the 1,200 MW Teesta III hydel power dam at Chungthang 65 km downstream and severely damaged the 510 MW Teesta V and the under-construction Teesta VI hydel projects further down the river. The cause was a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) possibly caused by heavy rains that triggered a landslide. A GLOF is a sudden release of water from a lake fed by…

In this article, we embark on a journey of India’s economic progress through the lens of Dr. Monica B. Sood, a socioeconomic analyst, doctor and an entrepreneur raised under the guidance of her father Late Paramjit Kumar, a distinguished economist himself. Dr. Monica examines India’s recent economic growth, considering policies, market forces, and global dynamics. Her economic acumen, nurtured by her academics and upbringing, allows her to appreciate both achievements and challenges in this period of progress. In the annals of history, India has always held a unique place. From its rich cultural tapestry to its profound philosophical contributions, this subcontinent has been a beacon of enlightenment for millennia. However, in the modern world, India’s evolution has taken an extraordinary turn. It has transformed from an emerging democracy into the…

DIGITAL LENDING APPS They first hook you with loans at cheap rates but then use exploitative practices to recover the money, which include threats to upload your morphed pictures online THE SIM CARD SWAP Your phone network goes blank and you get a call saying you have to press a number to regain it. If you do, you activate the SIM card that the cyber thief has swapped FAKE BPO OP Criminals sitting in India purport to be from the US Social Security agencies and dupe American citizens, saying their social security numbers have been compromised and to convert their money into crypto or gift coupons THE WFH SCANDAL You get job offers to complete a task. Payment shows up on a fake crypto wallet/UPI link, but can’t be withdrawn.…

In June 2022, Singh received a letter from his bank, asking him to regularise payments against his five overdraft loans totalling Rs 43.36 lakh against his bank FD. Having no recollection of any such loan, Singh rushed to his bank. He was told that a new phone number had been added to his account in January 2021, and was used to download the SBI Mobile application through which the loan was processed. Singh immediately filed an FIR, and police investigations revealed that the fraudsters had taken control of his account and net banking password, and used the money to buy gold. Singh did get his FD released after two months, following an internal probe by the bank, but minus the amount that had been siphoned off. Since the police were…

When the Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) released the GDP (gross domestic product) figure for the first quarter of the current financial year on August 31, it seemed the perfect prelude to the upcoming G20 summit, which the Narendra Modi-led government was keen to showcase as ‘India’s moment’. Just a month earlier, the prime minister had declared that India would become the world’s third-largest economy in his third term, and the 7.8 per cent GDP growth for the first quarter of FY24, compared to 6.1 per cent in the previous one (Q4 of FY23), seemed to suggest that India was well on its way to get there. However, three days prior to the G20 summit on September 9-10 came an article by Professor Ashoka Mody of the…

You may know A. Ramachandran (1935—) for his large, colourful and arresting canvases that make ample use of archetypal Indian imagery. Less known are his sculptures, although the artist has been creating them alongside his paintings over the years. “Even though I have created so many sculptures, they were always exhibited along with my paintings, so they did not get their due prominence. Besides, the interest in seeing and buying sculptures was never as popular as in the case of paintings and drawings,” he says. Now, a major exhibition—Ramachandran: A Retrospective of Sculptures—curated by Delhi’s Vadehra Art Gallery (on view at Shridharani Art Gallery until October 29 and at Vadehra Art Gallery until November 22) will bring together around 80 sculptures by the veteran artist. Ramachandran, who was trained at…

In the world of home decor, what truly makes a difference is not just the materials used, but also how they are constructed. Whether it’s a bedsheet, a bedcover or even a cushion, the way these items are made can transform your living space into a haven of comfort and style. Let’s understand the secrets behind the quality of home furnishings. DECODING THE THREAD COUNT Thread count is a critical factor in determining the quality of bed linens. It refers to the number of threads woven into one square inch of fabric. The general rule is that a higher thread count usually means a finer, smoother and more durable fabric. However, it is essential to strike a balance as claims of extremely high thread counts can sometimes be misleading. SIGNIFICANCE…

Wardrobe design is an often overlooked but crucial aspect of interior design. A well-organised and aesthetically pleasing closet can make a significant difference in our daily lives, from saving time in the morning to enhancing our overall sense of order and tranquillity. Here’s all you need to know. Space Assessment Before diving into the design process, it’s essential to assess the available space for your wardrobe. Measure the dimensions of the area, including height, width, and depth. Consider any architectural features such as sloping ceilings, alcoves or irregular shapes that might affect your design. What’s in Store The next crucial step involves assessing storage requirements. Begin by taking stock of your clothing, footwear, accessories and any other items you intend to store in your wardrobe. Take into account your daily…

On October 7, the Supreme Court listed six cases for hearing by the newly constituted seven-judge constitution bench. Among these was Rojer Mathew vs South Indian Bank, comprising a set of nearly two dozen petitions challenging the validity of the Finance Act, 2017. The contentious legislation had brought sweeping changes to the structure and administration of various statutory tribunals in the country such as the National Green Tribunal, Armed Forces Tribunal and Debts Recovery Tribunals. The petitioners claim the passage of the legislation as a money bill, which enabled it to bypass the Rajya Sabha, was illegal. It was hardly the longest-pending case on the agenda—the oldest among the six is from 1998—and so it was listed at number five in the sequence. But the extra significance attached to…

↘ NMC reasons that using the population criterion for MBBS seats will “reduce regional disparities” and prevent overcrowding at medical colleges ↘ All southern states have already exceeded the new limit, preventing them from opening new medical colleges or adding more MBBS seats in existing ones ↘ It is feeding the sentiment gaining ground in the South that they are being penalised for offering better education and health facilities in comparison to the “laggard” North Source: NMC; population projections by UIDAI…

On March 4, Nautiyal’s wife received an SMS from an unknown number, asking her to update their debit card details to pay the electricity bill. Since her number was not registered with the power utility, the couple dismissed the message. Next day, they got a call. The caller asked Nautiyal to pay Rs 10 using his power utility payment gateway. Then, he was told the payment had failed and the “update” was unsuccessful and that he needed to download an app. Falling for the ruse, Nautiyal did as he was told and lost Rs 2.6 lakh from two accounts in just 11 minutes. Nautiyal approached both the banks and the police, but all he has been able to find out is that his money was withdrawn the same day…

The Congress’s poll manifestos are following a distinct pattern. Though Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana are yet to receive their renewed vouchers for the Grand Old Party’s gift hampers, we already have a near-complete picture. It’s a policy blueprint incubated and evolved in its own laboratories—the states it rules (Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh) or won recently. The party’s bouquet of 1,290 promises for Madhya Pradesh and its pledges for Mizoram, both released on October 17, borrows much from those two states. And Telangana is being offered visions similar to Karnataka. The common thread? Of course, its own formula of welfarism. This often comes with an implied or overt critique of ‘gaps’ in the BJP’s central policies (public health, jobs, farm MSPs, pension). And sometimes with equally visible copycat (Hindu appeasement) and competitive strands…

8,000 Diamond polishing units in Gujarat, half of them in Surat, employing 90 per cent of the workforce 15,000 Estimated number of the 800,000-odd diamond cutters and polishers laid off across Gujarat For a people who bring a shine to others’ lives, their own are filled with darkness. The diamond polishers of Gujarat, numbering an estimated 800,000, are finding themselves out of a livelihood that has been handed down to them over generations and which is the only vocation that they have ever known. According to industry insiders, some 15,000 people have lost their jobs in recent months. Unable to cope with the uncertainty, many of them are taking their own lives. Among them was 55-year-old Vinu Moradiya from Surat, who had lost his job this year, making it difficult…

1 The process involves the hormonal stimulation of the ovaries, causing them to release more than one egg in a cycle 2 The eggs are then retrieved and frozen in liquid nitrogen 3 When required, an egg is thawed and combined with sperm in an IVF lab and the fertilised embryo then transplanted into the uterus ₹1.6-2.5 LAKH The cost of egg-freezing in India. Followed by Rs 10,000-25,000 a month for storage. The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, stipulates that eggs can be stored for up to 10 years, after which they are destroyed or donated for research ↘ Frozen eggs require IVF to achieve pregnancy. The health of the egg at the time of freezing is thus important. Age, lifestyle, weight and overall health determine that ↘ Couples also…

Forever settling, settled and unsettling, Dilli, Delhi and Delhie has had a history of counting its ruins among its foundations, the future debris after its latest hubris. As the latest Sarishtadar or record keeper, Shama Mitra Chenoy has dug up the 17th, 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, not as an archaeologist, neither as a fictionaliser, but as a relay-historian. She has unearthed the best-known works about Delhi from the preceding centuries, studied them as a true historian would, to now hold out the baton to the 21st century. She wades across Dargah Quli Khan’s Muraqqa-e-Dehli, through Sair-ul-Manazil, Asar-us-Sanadid to the works of Thomas Metcalfe, British Resident of Delhi as well as Ramji Das and Bashiruddin Ahmed Khan. To this, Mitra Chenoy adds her own scholarship—both original and translated. The…

Bangla cop universe is one way to put it. Another is a “double prequel”, as Srijit Mukherji says. In his October 19 theatrical release, Dawshom Awbotaar, chasing the serial killer (Jisshu Sengupta) are Mukherji’s cop characters from two previous hit thrillers: Probir Roy Chowdhury, played by Bangla superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee, from Baishe Shrabon (2011), and Bijoy Poddar (Anirban Bhattacharya), from Vinci Da (2019). Dawshom Awbotaar emerged from two separate incidents. There was the promise made to Chatterjee about revisiting his foul-mouthed cop Probir, who died in Baishe Shrabon. And years back, while preparing a web series adaptation of Arnab Ray’s novel The Mahabharata Murders, he had in mind a second season about a serial killer who imagines himself as Vishnu’s tenth avatar. “There will be cross-referential quirks and hat tips…

There is an old joke about reviewing a book without having read it. That is precisely what I am going to do with this one, for it deserves no less. We have here 50 of the greatest Indian stories ever told, as the title proclaims, and we must read them with due reverence and regard, at the rate perhaps of one story every day, or every week, or perhaps every month. We mustn’t wolf down this feast fit for connoisseurs as we do a burger. The editor Arunava Sinha is a prolific, astute and widely respected literary translator. To his credit, he himself in his ‘Introduction’ interrogates each word in the title — ‘greatest’, ‘Indian’, ‘story’, ‘ever’, and even ‘told’ and ‘the’—before the sceptical reader can do so. He rightly…

Powerful prints, bold designs, and brave colours, have been our calling cards since 1985. Bringing the same fashionable aesthetic indoors creates the perfect backdrop for the festivities. Jacquards, prints, embroideries, velvet jacquards, textures and plains have been combined with linens, cottons, viscose and polyester. Natural flowers combined with linens accentuate the tranquil atmosphere. At the same time, psychedelic waves with peppy colours brighten up any space. Petal Pusher This dining table set-up harnesses the beauty and versatility of the Phool Mandi collection. Inspired by traditional flower markets of India, linens, poly cottons, poly viscose, twill weave, herringbone weave and satin weave have been used to give the fabrics a delicate look. The white mogras contrast well against the black background. The perfect setting for a festive feast. PRICE ₹1,490 to…

↘ According to Article 110 of the Constitution, a bill is deemed to be a money bill if it deals “only” with matters specified in Article 110 (1)(a) to (g)—taxation, borrowings by the government and appropriation of money from the Consolidated Fund of India, etc. ↘ Article 110(1)(g) adds that “any matter incidental to any of the matters specified in Articles 110(1)(a)-(f)” can also be classified as a money bill ↘ The government has cited this clause to introduce legislations such as the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and the recent amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, as money bills ↘ Generally, for a bill to be enacted, the approval of both houses of Parliament is required. But a money bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha.…

In a setback to India’s marriage equality movement, the Supreme Court on October 17 ruled against legalising same-sex marriages, holding that only the legislature can decide on the issue. While hearing 21 petitions filed by same-sex couples and activists, the top court made it clear that it can’t tinker with the scope of the Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954, to include queer people and that it will not interfere with religious personal laws, leaving it to Parliament to look into the subject. The five-judge constitution bench, which had held a marathon hearing of 10 days in April-May earlier this year, comprised Chief Justice (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S. Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P.S. Narasimha. Four separate judgments were given, one each by CJI Chandrachud, Justice…

It’s been thirsting to become a theme that gets enough airplay. And on October 16, Rajasthan’s Eastern River Canal Project (ERCP) finally made the cut when Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and CM Ashok Gehlot landed in the barrenness of Baran district—part of a fist-like protrusion into the Madhya Pradesh map—to launch a poll yatra that will pass through all of 13 eastern Rajasthan districts. The key talking point: the Centre’s tardiness in granting national status to the ERCP, which holds the promise of transforming the region. By contrast, the Gehlot regime’s Rs 14,000 crore outlay for the project will be presented as keen-eyed munificence. It was at a dull Jaipur conference on the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission in April 2022 that the waters suddenly came to a boil, so to…

NEW PROMISES ↘ KCR Bima Prathi Intiki Dhima: Rs 5 lakh life insurance cover for all BPL families ↘ Sowbhagya Lakshmi: Rs 3,000 a month allowance to women in BPL families ↘ KCR Aarogya Raksha: Threefold hike in health insurance cover for BPL families—from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. Accredited journalists to be eligible too ↘ Rythu Bandhu: Investment support for farmers to go up from Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per year in 2024; Rs 1,000 annual hike thereafter ↘ Aasara: Rs 1,000 hike in monthly social security pension in 2024; to go up by Rs 500 every following year. (At present, it’s Rs 2,016 for the elderly, widows, weavers, etc., Rs 4,016 for persons with disabilities) ↘ Residential schools: All 204 residential schools for Muslims, other disadvantaged to be…

*Russia and Botswana lead the global production of roughs ROUGH DIAMOND IMPORTS CUT & POLISHED DIAMOND EXPORTS Source: GJEPC…

MUMBAI HAS ALWAYS HAD a deep connect with art, and the city’s art scene has seen a rather radical revitalisation in recent times. Along with innovative spaces that engender creativity, residencies for artists, vibrant street art, immersive exhibits and the popular Art Night Thursdays by Mumbai Gallery Weekend (a collaborative effort by several of the city’s contemporary art galleries), there’s another exciting development in the offing… one that will most likely be extremely transformative of not just the city’s or country’s, but the entire South Asian art ecosystem. The first edition of Art Mumbai will be on at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse’s Members’ Enclosure between November 16 and 19, 2023. According to Minal Vazirani, co-founder of auction house Saffronart and one of the leading lights behind Art Mumbai, the four-day art fair…

FURNISHINGS Fancy Fabrics Printed and embroidered cushions and bedlinen from Fabindia’s festive range pays a vibrant ode to the season. PRICE ₹2,200 onwards AT www.fabindia.com Cushion Comfort Jacquard with silky finishes, handcrafted with embroideries, applique work and gold touches, define the Duke In Love collection from Rosabagh PRICE on request AT @rosabaghofficial (Instagram) Old is Gold Inspired by age-old traditions, these furnishings from Nesterra’s Heritage Collection have booti, lotus, damask and aari embroidery inspired by the Mughal period. PRICE ₹1,200 onwards AT www.nesterra.com Give me Red Kainat Red Cushion from MiRooh uses zardozi embroidery in a backdrop of plush velvet. PRICE ₹7,200 AT www.mirooh.in Rugged Appeal Dressed in colours of the festive season, the hand-knotted Bakhtiyar rugs from The Blue Knot are perfect for the celebrations. PRICE ₹60,000 AT www.theblueknot.com…

Adarsh and Mansi, a young couple, approached us with a very different kind of project—they wanted an entire home dedicated only to entertainment, rest and relaxation. They already have a home in the same building on a lower floor, where they stay with their two young children. So, they wanted a space that was separate from the family home where they could entertain friends, get in a workout or watch a movie. This project came to us in the thick of lockdown 1.0. While we had a completely free reign to do whatever we wanted with the space, we had to adhere to its primary purpose—to make room for fun, entertainment and relaxation. Decoding the Decor The living space has accents of sage green with a colour burst rug from…