The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. India has identified Jaish-e-Mohammad as the terrorist organisation behind the Pathankot attack, and given Pakistan actionable intelligence about the terrorists.
2. The Sensex plunged 500 points on Thursday, following panic in the Chinese markets after a devaluation of the yuan.
3. Police lathi charged and detained protesting students at the Film and Television Institute of India after Gajendra Chauhan formally took charge.
The Big Story: Mufti 2
The death of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has prompted the ruling People's Democratic Party, which is in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, to write to the governor naming its nominee to replace him. As expected, that nominee is Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief minister's daughter, and one of the key architects of the PDP's growth in Kashmir. Mehbooba Mufti is not a traditional dynastic politician. In many ways, she scripted her own rise to the top of the PDP and, now, Jammu and Kashmir politics, by taking her party's "soft separatist" approach much further than her father. Where Mufti Sayeed was known to sway between the Valley and Delhi, Mehbooba spent much of her time venturing into areas in Kashmir that certain politicians were unwilling to visit, particularly the homes of slain militants.
But this difference between Mehbooba and Sayeed is likely to put a strain on the PDP-BJP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, itself something of an anomaly. The current chatter in Delhi remains that it is unlikely the alliance will see out its six-year tenure, at least with Mehbooba as chief minister, unless further accommodation is made. For that, however, Mehbooba will also have to find a way to bring her party along, which is not a given because of the competing forces within the PDP that are likely to be exacerbated by a period of rising tension in its relationship with the BJP. With all of that to worry about, the daunting challenge of actually governing Jammu and Kashmir feels almost like a subplot.
Politicking & Policying
1. Pathankot Fallout 1: Authorities are questioning an employee of the Army's Military and Engineering services on the suspicion that he may have helped terrorists infiltrate the Pathankot air force base.
2. Pathankot Fallout 2: The Times of India publishes the Pakistani phone numbers leaked to it by security agencies as proof of cross-border involvement, saying calls were made to them.
3. Film actor Aamir Khan has said he respects the government's decision to drop him as ambassador for India's tourism, which the Prime Minister's Office is now looking into.
4. Authorities in Gurdaspur are still looking for two men in army uniforms who they believe could be terrorists.
5. Not that politicians care about irony, but the Congress has just released a list of alleged corruption scams they attribute to Jayalalithaa's government in Tamil Nadu.
Punditry
1. Sankarshan Thakur in the Telegraph looks back at former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's legacy.
2. Muzamil Jaleel's portrait of the man for the Indian Express and Praveen Donthi's profile of him in the Caravan round out the picture of Sayeed.
3. India is unlikely to get a big boost from its much-touted demographic dividend, writes Rahul Jacob in the Business Standard.
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