The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. Meltdown 2016: Water levels have dipped to 19% in the country’s major reservoirs.
2. The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks for details of money sent abroad by those named in Panama papers.
3. AgustaWestland: Another ex-IAF officer, now a lawyer questioned on Thursday.
4. Supreme Court raises questions on Singur land allocation for Tata Motors.
5. IPL: Rising Pune Supergiants chase down 163 to win by seven wickets against the Delhi Daredevils
The Big Story: Mapping India
India has one of the world’s worst rates of malnutrition in the world. The life expectancy of its people fall short of Bangladesh’s by three and a half years. India's infant mortality is one the world’s worst at 38 deaths per 1,000 births. The number is 29 in Nepal.
These and a host of other statistics make it clear that India is one of the poorest, most deprived places on the planet. Human development should be undertaken on a war footing. Instead, the government is busy making map laws.
As the Economic Times reported, the Modi government is considering a law that would penalise anyone with a seven-year jail sentence and Rs 100 crore fine for showing on a map that parts of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir that are occupied by Pakistan and China.
India is famously prickly about maps, keen on ensuring that its claim lines – rather than the actual ground situation – dictate the area’s cartography.
This had led to spats between the Economist and the Indian government in 2010, when the magazine’s maps of Kashmir were physically covered up with paper by the Indian government. Accusing India of being more intolerant on this issue than either Pakistan or China, the Economist provocatively insisted on putting up its map online with the disclaimer: “Unlike their government, we think our Indian readers can face political reality. Those who want to see an accurate depiction of the various territorial claims can do so using our interactive map at Economist.com/asianborders."
Of course, the Economist showed that in a world with the internet, Soviet-style censorship of maps is impossible. The Indian government cannot hide the ground reality of Kashmir from its citizens in 2016 – there are simply too many sources of information. Nor should it want to. The Indian people are mature enough to accept the truth.
For this government to waste its time on censoring maps is to waste it mandate. Showing all of Jammu and Kashmir under India’s control on a map won’t fix India’s alarming infant mortality or poor school enrolment rate. That matters much more than some squiggly lines on a piece of paper.
Politicking & Policying
1. The AIADMK manifesto focuses on free phones, gold, loans, power and land.
2. Narendra Modi will be in Tehran on May 21 and will meet Ayatollah Khamenei.
3. Modi is the "Jagadguru" of the "politics of blackmail", says the Congress as it defends itself in the AgustaWestland case.
Punditry
1. The revival in China’s economy is led by investment and growth in real estate, but the country is not yet out of the woods, says Akash Prakash in the Business Standard.
2. Amit Cowshish in the Indian Express explains why AugustaWestland is a scam.
3. Aakar Patel in the Mint weighs in favour of the "five-days, eight-hours" work life.
Don’t Miss
Nitish Kumar hopes to get a foothold in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh riding on the Prohibition plank, says Dhirendra J Jha.
Kumar’s move to create a niche for his party in Punjab comes close on the heels of his failure to emerge as a significant player in Uttar Pradesh. Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh, who initially responded enthusiastically to his proposal to merge his party with the JD-U, has drifted away, leaving the Bihar chief minister high and dry.
The setback, however, has not come in the way of the JD-U leader’s bid to pitch his Prohibition decision as a model for other states. On May 10, he is scheduled to address a public meeting at Dhanbad in neighbouring Jharkhand – a move that has already provoked a war of words with the state’s Chief Minister, Raghubar Das. In the meeting, which is being organised by a local women’s body, Jharkhand Nari Sangharsh Morcha, Kumar is slated to discuss the benefits of Prohibition.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!