Left, Right & Centre

The Punjab government has deployed thousands of observers to tell farmers that they cannot burn crop residue, which has a catastrophic impact on environment in many parts of North India. But the farmers demand incentives from the government to stop the annual practice. The big question remains unanswered - will the smoke from stubble burning choke Delhi this year as well?

The army launched attacks on terror camps located inside Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir today, in which three camps were destroyed and six to 10 soldiers of the Pakistan army were killed, army chief Bipin Rawat said. The artillery strike was in retaliation to the support provided by Pakistan Army to push terrorists into the Indian territory.

The depositors in the scam-hit PMC bank protested outside RBI's office in Mumbai, weeks after restrictions were put on cash withdrawals. A similar protest was organised in Delhi. After an alleged Rs. 4,355 crore scam came to light at the PMC Bank, the RBI initially capped withdrawals at Rs 1,000 in view of liquidity crisis, and later hiked it to Rs 40,000.

There's a political war brewing over Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar, also known as Veer Sawarkar. This after his name figured in the BJP manifesto as a posthumous recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. From PM to Amit Shah to the entire BJP top brass, this has become a rallying point. Like most things these days, this issue too seems to have divided the view within the Congress party. One section of the party is strongly opposed to the idea with Manish Tewari saying, then you might as well give Nathuram Godse a Bharat Ratna too, and on the other end of the spectrum you have former PM Manmohan Singh who said we value his contribution but do not stand for his brand of Hindutva ideology. By the evening, BJP ministers released Indira Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi's speeches and letters praising Sawarkar. The question on the show though is more fundamental: Like Article 370, what has this got to do with the local issues of Maharashtra? Is this a poll issue, and if it is, should we say goodbye to conventional wisdom that state elections are won and fought on local issues?

In three days, three deaths in Kashmir - an apple trader shot dead, truck drivers from Punjab ferrying apples killed, apple traders' families being threatened. The administration says that they have unearthed a new strategy of the Hizbul terrorists who want to destabilise Kashmir's economy by targeting apple traders. This is apple season and it means everything to Kashmir. While it is a given that Pakistan wants to hurt Kashmiri interests by discouraging them to trade apples, how is the administration prepared to deal with this brand new apple terrorism?

It is curtains on a very old case, a property dispute, which then became a matter of faith, then a matter of legality, and then, a subject matter of politics. Before November 17, the Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on who owns the disputed land in Ayodhya, but mediation attempts had gone on and a report has been submitted. The Sunni Waqf Board, one of the litigants, are now deeply divided on their position.

Out of a job because Jet Airways shut down, and unable to pay for the education of his special needs child because he is unable to access his funds in PMC bank, a 51-year-old man returns home distraught, has a heart attack and dies. The situation still remains grim for thousands of members of the banks who have deposited their funds in the bank - funds which they cannot fully access. At the moment - all they can withdraw is Rs 40,000 every six months. How do many in Mumbai survive on less than Rs 7,000 a month is what many want to ask. On the show, citizens who have deposited their funds in the bank speak to us on just how desperate their predicament is turning out to be.

Just where do we stand as far as our economy is concerned? If you ask Abhijeet Banerjee, the Nobel laureate, the economy is doing very badly - the economic data is dubious, consumption has gone down. On the other hand, the government believes that yes, there may be challenges at the moment, but the broader macro-economic situation is stable and that basic demand will pick up and GDP numbers will revive. This as the latest World Bank numbers peg India's growth lower at 6.1 per cent. This on a day when the new global hunger report is out and pegs India at a fairly appalling at 102 of 117.

In a huge honour for India, economist Abhijit Banerjee, an alumnus of Kolkata's South Point School, Presidency University and Delhi's JNU won the Nobel Prize for Economics along with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. Presently an American citizen, Mr Banerjee, his wife Esther Duflo and Mr Kremer wrote a book together on an "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty". Mr Banerjee has been a fierce critic of many of the BJP government's economic policies. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen joins us to share his views on Abhijit Banerjee's win.

After 72 days, postpaid mobile phones started buzzing in Jammu and Kashmir from noon today. The communication blackout started on August 5 after the centre scrapped the state's autonomy and divided it into two union territories. This is the biggest step so far in restoring normalcy, but there is still no Internet. There are strikes on in many places and political leaders remain detained. What do people on the ground have to say about the situation? A new report is out, we also discuss its main points.