SIDDARAMAIAH SEEMS SET TO BE KARNATAKA CM
After a day of hectic parleys and burning the midnight oil, the Congress on Thursday ended the impasse over the Karnataka govt formation, according to ANI, and is set to appoint Siddaramaiah the Chief Minister and D K Shivakumar the Deputy CM. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held in Bengaluru on Saturday (May 20).
Earlier in the day, Siddaramiah and Shivakumar, both contenders for the top job, held separate meetings with party leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. Shivakumar also had a lunch meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. After the meetings, Shivakumar, the state Congress president, was closeted with his MLAs and leaders close to him at his brother and Lok Sabha D K Suresh’s residence.
Even as the central leadership held consultations with Siddaramiah, Shivakumar, and other senior leaders from the state, the party’s Karnataka women’s wing president Pushpa Amarnath told the media that Siddaramiah’s name had been cleared for the chief minister’s post. Amarnath is considered to be a Siddaramiah loyalist.
As celebrations began outside Siddaramiah’s residence in Bengaluru, and Shivakumar’s supporters shouted slogans outside Sonia Gandhi’s residence at 10, Janpath, the Congress clarified in a statement that consultations were still on. “Within the next 48 to 72 hours, we will have a new Cabinet in Karnataka, and in the first Cabinet meeting, we will implement the five Congress guarantees and begin the work of building a grand Karnataka,” said AICC Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala.
AFTER BJP DIG OVER KARNATAKA CM IMPASSE, CONGRESS REMINDS IT OF UP, ASSAM DELAYS
As the suspense over who the next chief minister of Karnataka will be continued on Wednesday, the Congress hit back at the BJP over digs at the lack of clarity about who will lead the state, Siddaramaiah or D K Shivakumar.
“Just to refresh memories of PM’s drum-beaters especially. 2017 UP Vidhan Sabha election results out on March 11th. Yogi appointed CM 8 days later on March 19th. 2021 Assam Vidhan Sabha election results out on May 3rd. Himanta Biswa Sarma became CM 7 days later on May 10th. There are many more such examples,” Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh tweeted on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said a sorry state of affairs prevails in the Congress and tweeted, “Want to watch circus? Watch the Congress select their CM in Karnataka. The BJP also holds discussions and deliberations to elect its CMs and has often ensured smooth transition of power, even between CMs. Despite elaborate consultations, you will never find BJP aspirants falling over each other, rallying supporters and issuing veiled threats to the Party through the media.”
He added, “Sorry state of affairs in the Congress, where President Kharge sees himself more as a postman, let alone being a decision maker or even part of the decision making team … He keeps referring to some High Command.”
INDIA REMAINS A BRIGHT SPOT IN WORLD ECONOMY: UN REPORT
India’s economy is expected to grow by 6.7 per cent in the calendar year 2024, supported by resilient domestic demand, according to a UN report which said higher interest rates and weaker external demand will continue to weigh on investment and exports this year for the country.
The World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2023 released on Tuesday said India’s economy, the largest in the South Asian region, is expected to expand by 5.8 per cent in 2023 and 6.7 per cent in 2024 (calendar year basis), supported by resilient domestic demand.
However, higher interest rates and weaker external demand will continue to weigh on investment and exports in 2023, it said.
Chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch, Economic Analysis and Policy Division, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Hamid Rashid had said at a press conference that India is a “bright spot” in the world economy.
According to the report, the world economy is now projected to grow by 2.3 per cent in 2023 (+0.4 percentage points from the January forecast) and 2.5 per cent in 2024 (-0.2 percentage points), a slight uptick in the global growth forecast for 2023.
PM MODI TO GO AHEAD WITH AUSTRALIA VISIT DESPITE CANCELLATION OF QUAD LEADERS’ SUMMIT
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's engagements in Australia next week will remain unchanged except the summit of the Quad leaders in Sydney, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced cancelling the Quad summit after US President Joe Biden postponed his visit to Australia to focus on crucial debt-ceiling talks in Washington. The Quad leaders are now set to meet on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Japan.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday announced Modi's three-nation tour beginning Friday.
In the first leg of his trip, Modi will visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima from May 19 to 21 for the annual summit of the G7 advanced economies. From Japan, Modi will travel to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea where he will host the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on May 22 jointly with Prime Minister James Marape.
In the third and final leg of the trip, Modi will visit Sydney in Australia from May 22 to 24.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
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'PROBABLY MY LAST TWEET...': IMRAN KHAN CLAIMS POLICE HAS SURROUNDED HIS HOUSE
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that the police have surrounded his house and he may be arrested again. "Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Police has surrounded my house," he said in a tweet.
This comes just hours after Pakistan's Punjab govt gave a 24-hour ultimatum to Imran Khan to hand over 'terrorists' seeking refuge in his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. Punjab's interim information minister Amir Mir said that the authorities had "technical and intelligence" information through geo-fencing that alleged rioters were seeking refuge at Imran Khan's residence. He said that these people also included those who had attacked the Lahore Corps Commander House.
In his first address after his arrest earlier this week, Imran Khan had evoked the country's division from East Pakistan- present-day Bangladesh- and recalled the ethnic massacre of Bengali people committed by the Army. "This [repression] did not work then, it will not work now," he had said.
He had also recalled the US special forces' operation that killed al-Qaeda terrorist chief Osama bin Laden in May 2011. "You cannot imagine what Pakistanis abroad went through when Osama was killed in Abbottabad. I defended the army then," Khan said, while referring to Pakistan Army's accusation that Khan's political acts had been maligning the country's military forces.
CHINESE AUTHORITIES IMPOSE PENALTY ON COMEDY FIRM OVER MILITARY PUN
China on Wednesday slapped one of the country’s best-known comedy companies with a 14.7 million yuan ($2.13 million) penalty, accusing it of “harming society” after a military joke made by one of its comedians drew strong public criticism.
The incident has strongly divided the Chinese public over what sort of jokes are inappropriate as performances such as stand-up comedy become increasingly popular and also highlighted the limits of appropriate content in China where authorities say it must promote core socialist values.
The comedian, Li Haoshi's joke went viral on Chinese social media earlier this week. In the joke, Li recounted seeing two stray dogs he had adopted chase a squirrel and said it had reminded him of the phrase “have a good work style, be able to fight and win battles”, a slogan Chinese President Xi Jinping used in 2013 to praise the PLA’s work ethic.
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GLOBAL TEMPERATURES LIKELY TO BREACH 1.5 DEGREES CELSIUS LIMIT IN NEXT 5 YEARS: WMO
The 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature threshold was all set to be breached, at least temporarily, in the next five years, the World Meteorological Organisation said in a new analysis on Wednesday. It said there was a 66 per cent chance that global temperatures in at least one of the years between 2023 and 2027 would exceed the pre-industrial average by 1.5 degrees Celsius or more.
Also, it was nearly certain — a 98 per cent probability — that one of these years would turn out to be the warmest year on record, surpassing 2016. Right now, 2016 happens to be the warmest year ever, the annual mean temperature that year being 1.28 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial times (average of the 1850-1900 period). The year 2022 was 1.15 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial average.
SC PULLS UP MANIPUR HC JUDGE FOR 'OBNOXIOUS' ORDER ON QUOTA TO MEITEIS
The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Manipur high court judge Justice MV Muralidaran, saying despite being granted an opportunity he did not correct his judgment on grant of quota to the majority Meiteis in the strife-torn state.
The tribals are opposing reservation to the Meiteis following the March 27 Manipur high court order of Justice Muralidaran that asked the state govt to send a recommendation to the Centre within four weeks on the demand for ST status to the community.
Terming the March 27 order ”obnoxious”, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said, ”I will tell you (lawyers) one thing that the high court order was incorrect... I think we have to stay the order of the high court. The high court order is absolutely wrong. We gave Justice Muralidaran time to correct himself and he has not done so....”
Justice Muralidaran was in the news earlier for resisting his transfer from the Madras high court to the Manipur high court by the Supreme Court collegium.
The Manipur govt Wednesday extended the ban on internet services in the state for five more days, even as curfew was relaxed for longer periods across the state citing a “significant improvement” in the law-and-order situation.
DELHI HC REFUSES INTERIM RELIEF TO GAUTAM GAMBHIR IN DEFAMATION SUIT
The Delhi High Court Wednesday refused to pass an interim order in favour of former cricketer and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir defamation lawsuit where he sought to restrain Hindi newspaper Punjab Kesari and its reporters from publishing “defamatory” articles against him.
Justice Chandra Dhari Singh issued notice on the application for interim injunction moved by Gambhir and asked the defendant newspaper and others to file their response and issued summons to all defendants in the main lawsuit. The court then listed the matter for hearing on October 18.
The judge in his order observed, “Upon a bare reading of the impugned news articles, this court is of the prima facie opinion that many of these articles are indicative of willful campaign launched by the defendants to lower the reputation of standing of the plaintiff in the eyes of his constituents, supporters and the public at large. In the opinion of this court, this does not befit a newspaper of the repute and stature of the defendants to indulge in such conduct.”
During the hearing, Justice Singh orally said to Gambhir, “You are an elected person, a public servant; you need not be so sensitive”. The court also said, “Any public person should be thick-skinned… Nowadays judges should also be thick-skinned.”
ADANI-HINDENBURG ROW: SC GIVES SEBI THREE MONTHS TO COMPLETE PROBE
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted three additional months to SEBI to complete the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group and any possible lapses in regulatory disclosures.
"We initially allowed you two months…Have now granted three more months…Have effectively given five months now. SEBI can share the status of the probe in August, and if there is a genuine issue, we will consider (giving further time)," a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented SEBI.
The court’s comments came after Mehta submitted that the market regulator would need six months to complete the probe.
EV PENETRATION: AT 1.1%, INDIA IS FAR BEHIND CHINA, KOREA
According to research from S&P Global Ratings, the EV penetration rate (EV sales as a percentage of total light vehicle sales, including passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles) in India in calendar year 2022 was only 1.1 per cent, as compared to the Asian average of 17.3 per cent.
The countries covered in the region include China, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the greater China region, and Pakistan.
While China is at the top, with an EV penetration of 27.1 per cent, South Korea has already hit 10.3 per cent after a slow start. The average range of EV penetration in countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand ranges from 0. 1 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
The EV penetration in Japan is at 2.2 per cent, but that is because unlike India, the Japanese govt has decided to support different kinds of clean technology such as hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles.
THE KERALA STORY MAKES MERRY WHILE AFWAAH DISAPPEARED FROM THEATRES
On May 10, five days after the controversial film The Kerala Story and Sudhir Mishra’s drama thriller Afwaah released on the same Friday, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap came out against the move of banning the former, writing that one can disagree with a film, find it a “propaganda”, but halting its screening is wrong. Instead, he asked people to watch Afwaah and make their voice “stronger”. His statement was appreciated, his larger point understood, but there was one common complaint: How to watch the film, when it’s playing virtually nowhere?
The Friday of May 5th, when the two polar-opposite films released, witnessed significant drama and disappointment. While The Kerala Story saw unending controversies and ever-growing box office collections, Afwaah battled a silent heartbreak even as reviews championed it as one of the bravest films of the year.
The Sudhir Mishra directorial, produced by Anubhav Sinha and Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, opened in merely 60 screens across India, a shockingly low number for a film headlined by actors Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Bhumi Pednekar.
The Kerala Story, led by relatively less-known Adah Sharma, released in 1276 screens and reached almost 1500 screens by Monday. The film found support from the BJP govt, while Afwaah vanished on the opening day itself.
The film’s collections, according to trade sources indianexpress.com spoke to, were negligible to even report. The Kerala Story, meanwhile, is expected to end its lifetime box office run with collections north of Rs 225 cr.
Afwaah, which highlights how hearsay can put individuals in dangerous situations and cause havoc in their lives, is expected to be released on OTT soon.
INTL STUDENTS IN UK BRING NET POSITIVE IMPACT, REPORT FINDS AMID FEARS OF CRACKDOWN
International students, including Indians who make up one of the largest cohorts at British universities, bring a net positive economic impact for the UK economy even once other costs are factored in, a new report has found.
The analysis for leading UK higher education institutions released in London on Tuesday comes at a time when there are growing fears of a crackdown on international student visas as part of UK govt efforts to cut down immigration figures. Focussing on the 2020-21 statistics, the report claims a GBP 96,000 per non European Union (EU) student benefit to the economy – which covers students from countries like India.
“International students put nearly 10 times more into the economy than they take out – boosting both local and national economic wellbeing,” said Dr Gavan Conlon, Partner at London Economics, which had been commissioned to conduct the analysis.
“However, international students also allow universities to undertake world class teaching and research that would not otherwise be possible. As one of the UK’s most significant export industries, the success of universities in attracting international students should be applauded,” he said.
PRINCE HARRY, WIFE MEGHAN IN "NEAR CATASTROPHIC CAR CHASE" IN NEW YORK
Britain's Prince Harry, his wife Meghan and her mother were involved in a "near catastrophic car chase" involving paparazzi photographers after they attended an awards ceremony in New York, a spokesperson for the prince said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred after they left the Ms. Foundation for Women on Tuesday night where Meghan was honoured for her work.
"Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi," the couple's spokesperson said in a statement. "This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD (New York Police Department) officers."
The prince has long spoken out about his anger about press intrusion which he blames for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed when her limousine crashed as it sped away from chasing paparazzi in Paris in 1997.
IPL MATCH 64: LIAM LIVINGSTONE’S 94 IN VAIN AS DELHI BEAT PBKS BY 15 RUNS
Delhi Capitals beat Punjab Kings by 15 runs thereby hurting the latter’s chances of qualifying for the play-offs, in Dharamsala yesterday. Batting first, Prithvi Shaw was finally back among runs with a 38-ball 54, while South African Rilee Rossouw smashed a scintillating 82 not out off 37 balls as Delhi Capitals scored 213 for 2. It is their highest total of the season.
In reply, Liam Livingstone scored 94 off 48 balls but Punjab Kings managed only 198/8 in the end. DC are now on 10 points from 13 games while Punjab Kings stay on 12 points from 13 games and the best they can reach is 14 points.
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The surest way to work up a crusade in favour of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behaviour "righteous indignation" -- this is the most delicious of moral treats. - Aldous Huxley
OFF TRACK
From a woman’s diary:
Majbooriyan hoti hain mahaan logon ke Jeevan mein,
Nahin to Ram vanvaas mein,
Krishna karawaas mein,
Aur main rasoi mein kyun jaati.
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