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Essential HuffPost
Shankar Lal, president of Akhil Bharatiya Gau Sewa Sangh, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, extolled the many virtues of cow dung, ranging from protection against radiation to the treatment of deadly diseases. Shankar, 76, who drinks cow urine for health reasons, added that he as well as other RSS workers, apply cow dung on the back of their cellphones to 'protect' themselves from radiation.
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan wished his friends from the film industry, Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha, a happy Friendship's Day on Sunday. The 73-year-old Piku (2015) star also shared a few pictures of himself along with the two veteran actors on his official Twitter page.
Wikipedia has just gone live in Tulu, giving another boost to yet another ancient Indian language otherwise struggling to keep up with the times. Eight years after its launch, Tulu Wikipedia has gone live with over 1,000 articles.
Main News
Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar scripted history as she became the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut Olympic Games after finishing 8th in the qualifying round. Karmakar managed to perform her much-appreciated 'Produnova' vault cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts.
PM Narendra Modi came down heavily on the perpetrators of violence on Dalits, telling them, that they should attack him, rather than pick on his 'Dalit brethren'. Facing increasingly bruising opposition assault on him and BJP over attacks on Dalits and on the issue of cow vigilantes, Modi also lashed out at 'fake cow protectors', denouncing them for the second day running for trying to create 'tension and conflict' in the society and asking the states to take stringent action against them.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has withdrawn the private security cover provided to students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar. The university sent a notice to Kumar stating that the security will be continued only after dues of ₹5 lakh are paid.
Off The Front Page
At the event of launch the song of the song 'Gabru ready to mingle hai' from Abhay Deol, Diana Penty and Jimmy Shergill-starrer Happy Bhag Jayegi, singer Mika Singh reportedly cracked a crass joke, about the actress' surname. Joking around on the stage, Singh referred to her as Diana 'panty'. The actress reportedly refrained from reacting or commenting at the event.
An Allahabad school has come under scanner after it banned the singing of the Indian National Anthem on Independence Day. As a sign of protest, eight teachers, including the principal have resigned. Reportedly, the manager of the school said that it was unacceptable for Muslim students to sing the words "Bharat bhagya vidhata", which he translated as "India is the lord of its people".
A short film titled Super Cop!showcases the talents of a traffic constable in Chennai, who manages the unruly traffic of Chennai in the most smooth and artistic style. With 'moves like Jagger', constable M Kumar is famous for his moves on the road.
Opinion
Nitish Kumar confirms the rising phenomenon of maximum populism in Indian politics: a consensus paving the road to disaster, writes Shekhar Gupta in Business Standard. "The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, now takes the fight against liquor where nobody — Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Maoist or secular — has gone before. The entire family is liable if one member is found hiding liquor at home... You can get away with murder in Bihar, run your mafia empires from jail and order the murder of inconvenient journalists from there. But a liquor charge will be tried by special courts," he says.
The plight of Dalits in Gujarat cannot be attributed only to BJP rule. Congress must share the blame, says Christophe Jaffrelot in The Indian Express. "Last year, the BJP lost the local elections in rural and semi-urban areas of the state largely because of the Patels returning to the Congress. When Keshubhai Patel had lost the local elections in 2000, he was replaced by Narendra Modi. Now, Anandiben Patel has been replaced... But the ball is also in the Congress' court which, to win, may have to invent a new kind of coalition bringing together KHAM andthe anti-BJP Patels," he says.
State capacity is a key determinant of the success of market reforms, says an editorial in Mint. "The latest data of the law ministry puts the number at 18 judges per million population. This government has made good progress on repealing obsolete laws. The overall battle on judicial reforms—increasing capacity, repealing old laws, incorporating technology, etc— is long and arduous. Collectively, the impact of these reforms on India's gross domestic product may exceed that of the GST. But the GST itself took more than a decade. How long will these three take," it asks.
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