'In response to an FIR being filed against 49 celebrities and prominent personalities for writing an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, more than 180 cultural and literary personalities have condemned the charges and endorsed the original letter. Among those who have signed the letter are actor Naseeruddin Shah, writer Nayantara Sahgal, dancer Mallika Sarabhai, historian Romila Thapar, academic Anand Teltumbde, singer T.M. Krishna and artist Vivan Sundaram, according to a report by NewsClick.
'An FIR was lodged here on Thursday against nearly 50 celebrities, including Ramchandra Guha, Mani Ratnam and Aparna Sen, who had written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising concern over the growing incidents of mob lynching, police said... He said nearly 50 signatories of the letter were named as accused in his petition in which they allegedly “tarnished the image of the country and undermined the impressive performance of the Prime Minister” besides “supporting secessionist tendencies”...
'Rural India is now ‘open-defecation free’. With this declaration on Wednesday, prime minister Narendra Modi has ‘fulfilled’ at least one of the many promises he made when he first came to power in 2014. Except that lakhs of Indians will still continue to defecate in the open. By laying claim to the ODF status, the prime minister has allowed the government machinery to stop bothering about the problem from now on. And that is only one aspect of the entire issue...'
'Thousands of South Asians and concerned North Americans staged a rally in front of the UN headquarters as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the UN General Assembly of the United Nations on Friday. Those who gathered said they had come to oppose what they described as an undeclared Emergency in India, the “military occupation” of Kashmir, the lynchings of Dalits and Muslims, ongoing violence against women, the violation of the rights of workers, farmers, adivasis and minorities.
'Union minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said those who “do not feel proud” of US President Donald Trump’s comment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the “father of India”, do not consider themselves Indians. “India is being respected in a way which was rare in the past,” Singh said on the sidelines of the launch of CPGRAMS reforms in the department of posts. “People who live abroad are proud today of being Indian. This is happening due to the personality and personal outreach of Prime Minister Modi,” said the minister of state for the Prime Minister’s Office...'
'Oru Chaayakadakarante Mann ki Baat (Mind Matter of a Tea Vendor), an award-winning Malayalam documentary about the hardships of a tea seller after demonetisation, was supposed to be screened at the Kerala Club in New Delhi on Monday. The event was cancelled at the last minute, though, allegedly after Sangh parivar members threatened members of the club. According to The Telegraph, organisers were told not to screen the movie because it shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi “in bad light”. The screening was going to be followed by a discussion on the economic crisis...'
'In what may snowball into a controversy, the Income Tax department on Monday issued a notice to Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s wife Novel Singhal, regarding her income as an independent director of over a dozen companies... While details about the notice are yet to come, the matter may kickstart another debate on whether the Union government is intentionally using its agencies to go after those who have dissented against BJP leaders. Lavasa was one of the election commissioners who dissented on several decisions taken by the EC during the 2019 general elections.
'The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is facing a barrage of criticism from prominent lawyers, human rights activists and philanthropists after it announced that it would honour India’s controversial Hindu nationalist prime minister with an award later this month. The Global Goalkeeper award recognises Narendra Modi’s flagship Clean India programme, through which the government has built millions of toilets and publicised the benefits of sanitation and hygiene. The award comes amid growing criticism of the disenfranchisement, detention and deportation of Muslims in Assam and Kashmir.
'...For Modi, the achievements of ISRO’s scientists are of the same order as the miracles worked by India’s mythical ancients and they serve the same purpose: the greater glory of Bharat. This is the opposite of the scientific temper: it’s science as a kind of aarti where the goddess honoured is Bharat Mata. Prime ministers are influential people, their example matters, their actions and words are cues for others. A year after Modi became prime minister the Indian Science Congress had sessions where ‘scientists’ read papers documenting interplanetary travel in ancient India.
'Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin about the “rationale” behind India’s move to change Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional status and thanked him for Moscow’s “very clear and strong support”.
