In this still image from video, author Salman Rushdie is taken on a stretcher to a helicopter for transport to a hospital after he was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (AP Photo)India Top News Live: Author Salman Rushdie is no stranger to controversy. Three decades ago, he spent years in hiding under police protection after Iranian officials called for his execution over his controversial book, ‘The Satanic Verses’. On Friday, the author was stabbed on stage in New York, right before he was about to begin a lecture, and airlifted to a local hospital in critical condition. Rushdie was taken off the ventilator on Saturday and was able to talk, although he remained hospitalised with serious injuries. Rushdie had a damaged liver, severed nerves in an arm and an eye he was likely to lose, his agent told The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, the Centre could drop the contentious data localisation norms from the new data protection Bill and add these rules to the revamped version of the broader Information Technology Act, which the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) is working on, The Indian Express has learnt. The localisation norms, criticised by Big Tech companies as well as start-ups for being too “compliance intensive”, could be relaxed by allowing cross-border data flows to “trusted geographies”, it is learnt.
In other news, the Taiwan question is different from the boundary question between India and China, China’s ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, said on Saturday in his first media interaction since the border standoff began two years ago. Sun said both sides are continuously trying to bring the ties back on track. Calling the current border situation “stable”, he said the two sides are working towards switching over from “emergency response” to “normal management” of the situation.
Women take shelter during heavy monsoon rains, in Navi Mumbai, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. (PTI Photo)
Coinciding with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the ‘golden joint’ connecting two ends of the overarch deck of the world’s highest railway bridge over Chenab river was inaugurated on Saturday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.
Constructed at a cost of Rs 1,250 crore, the 1.3-km-long bridge is located 359 metres above the Chenab riverbed and it is 30 metres higher than Eiffel Tower in Paris.
It will provide all-weather rail connectivity to Kashmir. At present, Kashmir has only truncated railway line between Ramban district’s Banihal area of Jammu province to Baramulla in the Valley. (Read More)
Sahar Noor Mohammadi, who won an ICCR scholarship to study a course at Chandigarh’s University Institute of Applied Management Studies, should have written her fourth semester examination in June this year. The course had begun online in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, classes shifted back to the classroom, and students were told to appear physically for the examination.
But locked out of India without a visa, Sahar could not write the exam. Other than an automated reply, she has heard nothing more about her e-visa application, though she knows of one person whose application was accepted. With no way to complete her course and get her degree, Sahar says she has lost hope that the future she had planned, of setting up a small business with an Indian friend, has collapsed.
With the Taliban banning all higher education from Class 7 onward, she has no education options left in Afghanistan. “My younger sister’s education has also stopped. She was in Class 8,” said Sahar, as she showed all the desperate messages she sent to her teacher in Chandigarh. (Read More)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen assets worth Rs 370 crore in bank balances, payment gateway balances and crypto balances of Flipvolt Crypto-currency exchange held by Bengaluru-based firm Yellow Tune Technologies Private Limited which was allegedly being used by Chinese fintech app firms to launder their India revenues.
The ED reported the seizures Friday following searches carried out at the premises of Yellow Tune Technologies in Bengaluru. Read more
Never have Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand experienced such poor monsoon rainfall in the last 122 years. As farmers in the two states await a good spell to take up sowing, the administration is finalising contingency plans. Food and water scarcity are going to be the real issues in the country’s major rice producing states, with a potential to affect India’s kharif produce this year.
The worst monsoon for Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in a century
Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh are experiencing the worst monsoon season of the century. Between June 1 and August 12, the rainfall recorded over Jharkhand was 371.9mm against a normal of 627.6mm, a 41 per cent seasonal deficit.
This is the lowest ever rainfall recorded over Jharkhand (June to August) since 1901, the IMD’s rainfall data stated. Only twice before in the last 122 years has Jharkhand experienced such poor rainfall (below 500mm for June to August period) — in 2010 (439mm), and 1993 (469.6mm). A closer rainfall deficit was reported in 2019 (593mm). Read more.
THE MARKET rally over the last six weeks which took the Sensex up 15.8 per cent to close at 59,462 Friday has been driven mostly by sectors that benefited from a decline in global fuel and commodity prices.
An uptick in capital expenditure aided by a gradual moderation in inflation from its peak of 7.79 per cent in April to 6.71 per cent in July has ensured that the rally is broad based, with even the mid-cap and small cap indices rising 16.3 per cent and 15.6 per cent, respectively.
A comparison of the performance of sectoral indices over the six-week beginning June 17 reveals that companies whose revenues and profit margins are dependent on global commodity prices have outperformed. For instance, the BSE Power Index has been the biggest gainer, jumping 26.5 per cent since June 17.
The capital goods index rose 22.6 per cent, industrials 21 per cent, metal 20.8 per cent, consumer durables 20.6 per cent and auto 19.9 per cent. Read more.
At the 500-year-old Bagh-e-Babur, the grand garden designed by the founder of the Mughal dynasty and also the site of his final resting place, there is a flutter at the ticket counter.
A man buying a ticket has just learnt that men and women must enter the garden through separate gates. After some questions and telling the ticket seller that it is a “rubbish rule”, the family separates – women to the right, men to the left. They cannot reunite inside the garden either.
The 11 hectare-terraced garden has been partitioned with green baize and ropes into separate sections for men and women after a Taliban decree from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue. The rule took effect within three months of the Taliban takeover in August last year, said an official at the garden, a UNESCO protected World Heritage Site.
Since the park was restored in the first decade of this century, every year, hundreds of thousands of people have visited the 16th century garden where Babur lies buried. Read more.
“Yes, I would write The Satanic Verses again.” That was Salman Rushdie in January 2013, in The Indian Express, where he had dropped by for Idea Exchange, the newsroom’s weekly interaction with newsmakers.
He was referring to his 1988 novel that had set off a series of death threats against him and forced him to live in hiding for nearly a decade following the pronouncement of a fatwa against him by Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
On Friday, Rushdie, 75, was attacked by an unidentified assailant in Chautauqua, New York, as he waited to deliver a lecture. On its release, The Satanic Verses was banned in countries around the world for purportedly hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims for its satirical portrayal of the Prophet. Read more.
Salman Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats from Iran’s leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York.
A bloodied Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital and underwent surgery. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer was on a ventilator Friday evening, with a damaged liver, severed nerves in an arm and an eye he was likely to lose. Police identified the attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey. He was arrested at the scene and was awaiting arraignment.
State police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski said the motive for the stabbing was unclear. An Associated Press reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and punch or stab him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was arrested. Read more.
More from India
There is a growing divide among internet companies on setting up a self-regulatory body — to address complaints by social media users — as an alternative to the Centre’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC).
Snap and Google oppose an industry proposal to create such a body. They have flagged concerns over the potential inability to legally challenge any final content moderation decisions of a self-governing body, in addition to the difference in the moderation policies of different platforms, many executives aware of these discussions told The Indian Express.
Facebook and Twitter, however, are learnt to be in support of the body’s creation. Read more.
Visiting Delhi for the first time after the power shift in Patna, Bihar’s new Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and leaders of the Left parties – all are constituents of the Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance – after which he said Bihar has shown the direction to the country by ousting the BJP from power.
As he met Sonia and exchanged pleasantries, sources in the Congress said the two parties are locked in hard bargaining over the number of ministerial berths in Bihar. The Congress is keen to have four ministers but the RJD, sources said, is reluctant to allow more than two from the Grand Alliance quota. Read more
The Ministry of External Affairs Friday said India is concerned over the developments between Taiwan and China and called for avoiding unilateral action to change the status quo in the region.
In its first reaction on the crisis in Taiwan, India also underlined the need to maintain peace and stability in the region.
Addressing the media, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “Like many other countries, India too is concerned at recent developments. We urge the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change status quo, de-escalation of tensions and efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region.” Read more
As Nitish Kumar takes fresh guard as Bihar Chief Minister, with Tejashwi Yadav as his deputy, former Union Law Minister and the BJP’s Patna Saheb MP Ravi Shankar Prasad speaks to The Indian Express about his party’s struggles to hold on to its allies, if the state BJP will project a leader who can take on Nitish, and if the current “seven parties versus BJP” situation warrants the reformulation of the party’s socio-political combinations in Bihar. Read excerpts from the interview here
Days after he exited the alliance with the BJP in Bihar only to join the Mahagathbandhan and to be sworn in as Chief Minister for a record eighth time, Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar on Friday said that he has no aspirations of becoming the Opposition’s prime ministerial face.
“I say this with folded hands, I have no such thoughts…My work is to work for everyone,” he told news agency ANI. “I will make an effort to see that all the Opposition parties work together. If they do, it will be good.” Earlier this week, the Bihar chief minister ended his party’s alliance with the BJP and was sworn in once again as CM, with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as his deputy.
Asked whether he will be acting on Yadav’s promise of creating 10 lakh jobs in the state, Nitish said: “What he has said is right. All efforts will be made for it.” Read more.
New Delhi held its first political dialogue with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Brussels on December 12, 2019, The Indian Express has learnt.
Attended by senior officials, including from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence, the idea was to ensure the dialogue was primarily political in character, and to avoid making any commitment on military or other bilateral cooperation.
Accordingly, the Indian delegation attempted to assess cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
What is NATO?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO, is a political and military alliance of 28 European countries and two countries in North America (United States and Canada). It was set up in 1949 by the US, Canada, and several western European nations to ensure their collective security against the Soviet Union. It was the US’s first peacetime military alliance outside the western hemisphere. Read more.
New Delhi held its first political dialogue with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Brussels on December 12, 2019, The Indian Express has learnt.
Attended by senior officials, including from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence, the idea was to ensure the dialogue was primarily political in character, and to avoid making any commitment on military or other bilateral cooperation.
Accordingly, the Indian delegation attempted to assess cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
What is NATO?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO, is a political and military alliance of 28 European countries and two countries in North America (United States and Canada). It was set up in 1949 by the US, Canada, and several western European nations to ensure their collective security against the Soviet Union. It was the US’s first peacetime military alliance outside the western hemisphere. Read more.
The Manipur Assembly Friday unanimously adopted two private member resolutions to establish the Population Commission of the state and also implement the NRC (National Register of Citizens). The private member resolutions were moved by Janata Dal-United MLA Kh Joykishan Singh on the last day of the Budget session of the Manipur Assembly.
Singh expressed his concern over the alleged infiltration of outsiders into Manipur. He claimed that there was a population growth of 153.3 per cent in the hill districts of Manipur from 1971 to 2001. However, in the period from 2001 to 2011, the population growth jumped to 250.9 per cent. The valley districts registered a population growth of 94.8 per cent and 125.4 per cent for the period from 1971 to 2001 and 2001 to 2011, respectively. Read more.
Lower-than-expected United States inflation data at 8.5 per cent in July, down from the 9.1 per cent of June, has generally boosted investor sentiment around the world. Indian markets were already drawing comfort from softening crude oil prices and overall inflation, and were on the rise. However, experts say that inflation remains a concern, and central banks may continue to raise rates — which could impact demand and the margins and share prices of companies.
They, therefore, call for a step-by-step deployment in equities. US numbers boost As US inflation cooled in July, equity markets witnessed a relief rally. The Dow Jones Industrial in the US rose 1.6 per cent to close at 33,309 on Wednesday, and Asian markets traded strong on Thursday — with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and Shanghai Composite in China rising 2.4 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively. Markets in Europe traded flat on Thursday. Read more.
Lower-than-expected United States inflation data at 8.5 per cent in July, down from the 9.1 per cent of June, has generally boosted investor sentiment around the world. Indian markets were already drawing comfort from softening crude oil prices and overall inflation, and were on the rise.
However, experts say that inflation remains a concern, and central banks may continue to raise rates — which could impact demand and the margins and share prices of companies. They, therefore, call for a step-by-step deployment in equities. US numbers boost As US inflation cooled in July, equity markets witnessed a relief rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial in the US rose 1.6 per cent to close at 33,309 on Wednesday, and Asian markets traded strong on Thursday — with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and Shanghai Composite in China rising 2.4 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively. Markets in Europe traded flat on Thursday. Read more.
THE A343 Kam Air flight that departed New Delhi Thursday afternoon carried a motley group of passengers, but not enough to fill even half the 300-seater.
Among the 90 or so travellers: Afghan students returning home; a doctor on leave from her hospital in New Delhi to visit her ailing mother and hoping to return to India after a month; a man who had managed to get a medical visa and was returning home after his treatment; a clutch of aid workers, mostly Indian, working at the UN and other humanitarian organisations based in Kabul.
Also, an Indian professional who had departed from Kabul on the Indian Air Force plane on August 17 last year and was returning to “assess” the situation. Plus an MEA delegation that was met on the tarmac by some officials of the Taliban regime.
Scheduled to take off at 1 pm, the flight left two and half hours late because a massive amount of cargo had to be loaded. It was being sent by the government. Weary of questions about the delay, airlines ground staff hazarded the guess it could be a consignment of humanitarian aid for Afghanistan — food and medicines. Read more.
A migrant labourer was shot dead by militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora area on Thursday night, the police said. The labourer, identified as Mohd Amrez, hailed from Madhepura in Bihar and was working at Soadnara in Bandipora.
After being shot, Mohd Amrez was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to injuries. “During intervening night, terrorists fired upon & injured one migrant labourer Mohd Amrez, r/o Madhepura, Besarh, Bihar at Soadnara Sumbal, Bandipora. He was shifted to hospital for treatment where he succumbed,” tweeted Kashmir Zone police. Read more.