Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. Northern India is expected to get some respite from the heat with the occasional storm over the next few days, although central India and Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, where the heat wave has killed more than 1,100 people, will have to wait.
2. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has clarified that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Bangladesh will not include the announcement of a water-sharing deal for the Teesta river.
3. A panel led by Modi is expected to finally name chiefs for the Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Information Commission, which have been headless for months now.
The Big Story: Modi to the Promised Land
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become the first Indian PM to visit Israel, while also making a tour of Palestine, according to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who said exact dates hadn't been set yet. The visit would bring relations between India and Israel out in the open, after years of keeping it quiet because of New Delhi's support to the Palestinian cause. India only officially recognised Israel in 1991, but has since become close to the country particularly in the defence sector.
A high-level team from India, including Swaraj herself, is set to visit Israel, Palestine and Jordan in the next couple of months to prepare the ground for Modi's visit. The most likely outcome would be further development of economic ties and a more open acknowledgment of how much the two countries work together on defence equipment. Swaraj said that the visit doesn't indicate a change on India's position with regards to Palestine, particularly in the way it votes at multilateral fora.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
The Nepal earthquake actually got India and Israel talking about cross-border surrogacy. And last year, India remained unusually subdued after Israeli air strikes on Palestine.
To get Scroll's Daily Fix, a compendium of all you need to know for the day (and a little more) on your phone, download our Android app.
Politicking & Policying
1. Talks between the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal United in Bihar seem to be really stuck, so much that the Congress now wants to step in and pick a side.
2. Only one-third of the deaths announced as being heat-related in Andhra Pradesh have been confirmed, since most of them have been calculated by aggrieved kin attempting to claim compensation.
3. Manipur's Autonomous District Councils, which devolve power to the state's tribal hill areas, hold their elections today.
4. Prasar Bharati head Jawahar Sircar has written to the government about interference from the Information & Broadcasting minister and other ministers.
5. India may have been the world's second-fastest growing country in 2014-'15, but this hasn't reflected in India Inc, which had its slowest profit growth in two years.
Giggle
Punditry
1. With most people, including the finance minister, expecting and in fact calling for a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India, a leader in Mint calls for caution saying rate cuts earlier this year have done little.
2. Bhaskar Dutta in the Telegraph writes an obituary for Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri, a Delhi School of Economics legend.
3. A year since its formation, the state of Telangana is taking steps to address what was seen as underdevelopment, with the public sector at the forefront of the changes.
Don't Miss
Arunava Sinha explains why it's so hard to find good books beyond the social media echo chamber.
1. Northern India is expected to get some respite from the heat with the occasional storm over the next few days, although central India and Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, where the heat wave has killed more than 1,100 people, will have to wait.
2. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has clarified that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Bangladesh will not include the announcement of a water-sharing deal for the Teesta river.
3. A panel led by Modi is expected to finally name chiefs for the Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Information Commission, which have been headless for months now.
The Big Story: Modi to the Promised Land
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become the first Indian PM to visit Israel, while also making a tour of Palestine, according to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who said exact dates hadn't been set yet. The visit would bring relations between India and Israel out in the open, after years of keeping it quiet because of New Delhi's support to the Palestinian cause. India only officially recognised Israel in 1991, but has since become close to the country particularly in the defence sector.
A high-level team from India, including Swaraj herself, is set to visit Israel, Palestine and Jordan in the next couple of months to prepare the ground for Modi's visit. The most likely outcome would be further development of economic ties and a more open acknowledgment of how much the two countries work together on defence equipment. Swaraj said that the visit doesn't indicate a change on India's position with regards to Palestine, particularly in the way it votes at multilateral fora.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
The Nepal earthquake actually got India and Israel talking about cross-border surrogacy. And last year, India remained unusually subdued after Israeli air strikes on Palestine.
To get Scroll's Daily Fix, a compendium of all you need to know for the day (and a little more) on your phone, download our Android app.
Politicking & Policying
1. Talks between the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal United in Bihar seem to be really stuck, so much that the Congress now wants to step in and pick a side.
2. Only one-third of the deaths announced as being heat-related in Andhra Pradesh have been confirmed, since most of them have been calculated by aggrieved kin attempting to claim compensation.
3. Manipur's Autonomous District Councils, which devolve power to the state's tribal hill areas, hold their elections today.
4. Prasar Bharati head Jawahar Sircar has written to the government about interference from the Information & Broadcasting minister and other ministers.
5. India may have been the world's second-fastest growing country in 2014-'15, but this hasn't reflected in India Inc, which had its slowest profit growth in two years.
Giggle
#LandOrdinance cartoon @ETPolitics @EconomicTimes pic.twitter.com/AtMyUj3aD0
— R Prasad (@rprasad66) June 1, 2015Punditry
1. With most people, including the finance minister, expecting and in fact calling for a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India, a leader in Mint calls for caution saying rate cuts earlier this year have done little.
2. Bhaskar Dutta in the Telegraph writes an obituary for Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri, a Delhi School of Economics legend.
3. A year since its formation, the state of Telangana is taking steps to address what was seen as underdevelopment, with the public sector at the forefront of the changes.
Don't Miss
Arunava Sinha explains why it's so hard to find good books beyond the social media echo chamber.
Walk into a bookstore – if you can find one. Intended, and actual, bestsellers will greet you. They’ve been written by youthful looking men and the occasional women, mostly focussing on serving under-25 love-, sex- and six-figure-salary-seekers. Or, a writer seeking social adulation has paid to have the front shelves stacked with their new books. Sometimes it could even be the publisher forking out the rupees.
What you won’t get is a thoughtfully curated display of books worth reading. Because, among other things, the people at the bookshops don’t read. Most of them look distinctly alarmed if you actually ask about a specific book.
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