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Journalism of Courage
Good morning,
A few weeks ago, a 36-year-old Indian was receiving a standing ovation at a jam-packed stadium in Kabul. Devender Kumar, hailing from Chutarpura, a village comprising less than a thousand people, near Jodhpur in Rajasthan, was the man they were all standing up for. He might not be as popular as Harsha Bhogle or Peter Durry, but for Afghan cricket fans, he’s been no less since the last seven years.
Moving on to news in today’s edition:
Big Story
Fulfilling one of the promises it had made in its manifesto, the BJP-led NDA government has rolled out the expansion of its flagship health insurance scheme, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Now, the scheme will provide health coverage to “all senior citizens aged 70 years and above irrespective of their income”.
Who can avail this? Senior citizens aged 70 and above, and belonging to families already covered under Ayushman Bharat, will get an additional (shared) top-up cover up to Rs 5 lakh per year for themselves. Those already availing benefits of other public health insurance schemes may either continue their existing scheme or opt for Ayushman Bharat.
Why is it significant? The expansion of the scheme is India’s first step towards universal health coverage as this will be the first age cohort to receive complete coverage.
The Cabinet has also approved new EV and weather forecasting schemes. The new scheme for electric vehicles offers subsidies/demand incentives worth Rs 3,679 crore to incentivise adoption of electric two-wheelers, electric three-wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging EVs. On the weather front, the scheme, with a budget of Rs 2,000 crore, aims at upgradation of capabilities of India’s met department in forecasting, modelling and dissemination.
Only in Express
In the latest edition of Express Adda, Ruchir Sharma, the Chairman of Rockefeller International and Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Breakout Capital, speaks about why people seem to have lost faith in capitalism, the strength of emerging markets, the weakening US dollar and why India doesn’t want to go back to its socialist past.
From the Front Page
Under the lens: Bangladesh’s change in regime has come with a change in how it perceives deals made by the former Sheikh Hasina government. As such, under scrutiny is a deal with the Adani Group which exports power from its Jharkhand unit under a 2017 agreement. The Muhammad Yunus-led government is planning to study the terms of the agreement to see if the price being paid for power is justified.
Power struggle: After the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha used to boast about how the people of the UT can now see “barf and bijli (snow and electricity)” together. However, the failure to live up to that promise is why electricity ranks right on top of most manifestos. While regional parties have promised the “return” of hydropower projects to J&K’s control, the BJP says its government would enhance power-generation capacity.
Eye of the storm: Rahul Gandhi has found himself in the eye of a storm once again, after several Union Ministers slammed him over his remarks in the United States. Here’s what happened: Gandhi spoke about reservation during his visit, saying “we all will think of ending reservation when India is a fair place.” Hitting back, Home Minister Amit Shah accused Gandhi of being “anti-national” and “anti-reservation.” Other central ministers have since followed suit.
Must Read
Down south, a worrying story is unfolding. Several men from Kerala, who had opted for permanent residency in Russia and given up their Indian passports in hopes of a higher income, find themselves facing the harrowing realities of war. Some of the men have now expressed their desire to return to India after Sandeep, a 36-year-old from Thrissur, was killed in a drone attack in August.
✒️ “The Union government has done almost nothing even by way of formal efforts to restore law and order… But this majestic neglect is not surprising.”
In our Opinion pages today, Suhas Palshikar writes on the continuing turmoil in Manipur, and why a border state burning for over a year does not worry the present regime.
Trump, stumped: Democratic Presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris trumped former President Donald Trump in their first ever Presidential debate on Tuesday (Wednesday morning in India), burying the ghost of Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in his June face-off. Held in the backdrop of the race for White House poised on a knife’s edge, the debate could turn out to be a pivotal moment of the campaign. Here are five key takeaways from the night.
And Finally…
Musical chairs with managers, creatively stunted attack, gameplan mirroring European teams – these are some of the things that could be behind the Brazil football team’s poor form. Compared to the flair of the Brazil of yesteryears, the current team seems to be
indistinguishable from any other European side, most of whom go for a tactical approach rather than a free-flowing one.
Delhi confidential: Lok Dal, which was part of the INDIA bloc during the Lok Sabha polls and was promoted by Congress as the “asli Lok Dal”, Wednesday announced seven candidates for Haryana Assembly polls. The party is upset with the Congress for not responding to its request for a seat-sharing arrangement in Haryana.
🎧 In the latest episode of our 3 things podcast, Indian Express’ Shubhajit Roy joins us to talk about what India has to say about the Israel-Gaza war. Anonna Dutt shares how concerned we should be about the Monkeypox outbreak. In the final segment, we talk about Pakistan violating the ceasefire agreement on the Line of Control.
That’s all for today.
Until tomorrow,
Rounak Bagchi and Ayesha Jain
