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Hindustan Times August 23, 2019 Ten days after an entire hillock collapsed and  buried a village of 44 families , giant excavators continue to scoop out mounds of earth in search of human remains to tally the count of missing persons. The stench of decay and medicinal spray to avert a disease outbreak hangs heavy; the remains recovered are taken to a village mosque for post-mortem examinations and identification. In  Puthumala in Wayanad , another hamlet has been wiped out as a  hillside has almost melted away , bringing down everything in its path: homes, people, tea estates. Both these disasters occurred in what were described as the “ecologically sensitive zones” of the Western Ghats by a committee headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil in 2011, and again in 2013 by a high-level working group on the Western Ghats headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief K Kasturirangan. Survivors at relief camps in Mallapuram are mourning the loss of 28-year-old Vish

Hindustan Times August 23, 2019 The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will unveil the Tejas Mark II with a  heavier stand-off weapon capacity  in the 75th year of India’s independence, in 2022, and the long-awaited indigenous fighter, which will be  manufactured by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd  (HAL), will go into production by 2025-2026, two senior defence officials said on condition of anonymity. DRDO’s ADA finalised the design of the 17.5 ton Tejas Mark II (Mk-II) in December 2018, and is expected to  lock in the design  of the fifth generation twin-engine stealth fighter for Indian Air Force (IAF) by the end of the year. ADA officials said the Mk II will have the same weight as the Mirage, Jaguar and Grippen but with a heavier GE 414 engine. The qualitative requirements were frozen in late 2018, in full consultation and with the approval of the IAF, two years after the project was redesigned. The

Business Standard August 23, 2019 The recent shedding of over  350,000 jobs in its automobile sector --and  thousands elsewhere --is an indicator of the economic and social hurdles that jeopardise India’s demographic dividend, the growth opportunity afforded by the world’s second largest working-age population of 688 million people. With  unemployment  at a 45-year high, poor health--42 infants per 1,000 still die before turning one--and low levels of education--an average person has attended school for 6.3 years--India’s  demographic dividend  is at risk, according to an  IndiaSpend  analysis of  data from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Indian government, and  research  from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). India needs state specific policies--good health and education systems, with more women entering the workforce in young states, and policies to attract migrants and elderly care systems in ageing states. India will also need to reduce caste and urban

The Economic Times August 23, 2019 MUMBAI: Amazon has agreed to acquire an indirect minority stake in Future RetailNSE -4.62 %, the operator of Big Bazaar and EasyDay chains, ahead of an option to buy all or part of the promoters’ holding in the company after three years.  The Seattle-based retail giant will buy a 49% stake in Future Coupons, a promoter group company of Future Retail, the Kishore Biyani-controlled firm said in a stock market filing on Thursday. Amazon can exercise its option to buy the promoters’  shareholding in Future Retail between the third and 10th years.   The promoter group owns 47.02% in Future Retail. The company didn’t specify the valuation or the exact stake that Amazon will have in Future Retail.   Future Coupons, owned by Future Group promoter Biyani, holds 39.6 million warrants in Future Retail, which when exercised, will convert into a 7.3% stake in the company. Future Coupons said the stake will be acquired for about Rs 2,000 crore

FirstPost August 23, 2019 SINGAPORE (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries  is seeking a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo for delivery in October, two industry sources said on Friday. The refiner is seeking the cargo on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis for delivery over Oct. 5 to 14 into Hazira, one of the sources said. The tender closed on Thursday and it was not immediately clear if it had been awarded. (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; editing by Richard Pullin) Ref.  https://www.firstpost.com/business/indias-reliance-seeks-lng-cargo-for-october-delivery-sources-7211281.html

The Indian Express August 23, 2019 As the debates about religion and region get shriller, I am reminded of my identity — a Muslim from Kashmir — at each moment when I think of using Article 19 of the Constitution of India, or merely when telling someone my name. When she travelled outside Kashmir for the first time last year, to visit me in  Chandigarh , I was taken aback by an unexpected but stark observation from my apolitical mother. “There are no forces here on the roads,” she said. Today, and for the past many days, the promised dawn of a new Kashmir, to my mother and everyone there, means a siege: More gun-wielding men and suspension of all that is law and order. An out-of-the-blue phone call lasting 30 seconds on the morning of August 19 has been my only contact with the family since I returned to Chandigarh after living under curfew for a week. The television here roars, though, that Kashmir is peaceful and normal. But the memories of my time in Kashmir make me

Tribune August 23, 2019 New Delhi’s unilateral annexation of Kashmir is being celebrated in India as a major constitutional and political coup. In fact, many Indian analysts are selling the abrogation of Article 370 as a fait accompli, while failing to recognise that India’s undemocratic and illegal action will have serious repercussions for regional stability and directly compromise its democratic credentials. Moreover, the gross human rights violations in Kashmir and the BJP government’s plans to change the demographic Muslim majority character of the region are being seen as ethnic cleansing in India’s only Muslim-majority state. Pakistan has already called for seeking redress from the ICJ on the egregious human rights violations by India, and moved the UNSC for a discussion on Kashmir; a first since 1971. To send a message of unstinting support to the people of Kashmir, and resoluteness to the international community in the wake of India’s attempt at annexing IoK

The Hindu  August 22, 2019 Trucks to ferry produce unavailable Security restrictions and absence of communication links have hit Kashmir’s multi-crore apple business. The movement of fruit trucks to the Valley has reduced from 1,200 to just 120 a day. Nazeer Ahmad, 55, an orchard owner in the apple town of Shopian, on Thursday reached Srinagar to seek help from the administration for making available trucks and giving them safe passage “All   mandis   [designated apple markets], especially in Shopian and Sopore, are shut. No buyer from outside the State has come here. This is likely to affect the pricing. We fear the ripe harvest may rot in case trucks from other States fail to arrive in the Valley,” Mr. Ahmad said. “This year buyers from Delhi’s Azadpur mandi avoided advance contracts for the standing crop, putting the burden of ferrying the crop on the orchard owners completely.” The apple season starts in the second week of August and peaks in September-O

The Wire August 23, 2019 New Delhi:  Five human rights experts of the United Nations on Thursday called for India to lift the  communication clampdown  in Kashmir, describing the measures as a “ collective punishment ” for the entire population of the region. Since the evening of August 4, residents of Jammu and Kashmir have been cut off from all mobile phones, television channels and internet access. The Centre blocked all communication channels ahead of the introduction of the legislation to remove the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, hitherto guaranteed under Article 370, and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories. “The blackout is a form of collective punishment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, without even a pretext of a precipitating offence,” said the statement released on Thursday. The five signatories of the statement are Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David