The Evening Wrap: Monsoon arrives in Kerala

The southwest monsoon arrived in Kerala on June 8, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on June 8, four days later than the original forecast date of June 4 and nearly a week after its ‘normal’ onset date of June 1. “Southwest Monsoon has advanced into remaining parts of south Arabian Sea and some parts of central Arabian Sea, entire Lakshadweep area, most parts of Kerala, most parts of south Tamil Nadu, remaining parts of Comorin area, Gulf of Mannar and some more parts of southwest, central and northeast Bay of Bengal,” the agency said in a statement. Apart from “widespread rainfall” over Kerala, other criteria that must be met include windspeed of a minimum strength and at a particular depth in the atmosphere and a degree of clouding that ensures consistent rains, as the monsoon travels into the mainland. “The strength of westerly winds in the lower levels has increased and is about 19 knots. There has been widespread rainfall over Kerala during past 24 hours. Considering all the above satisfied conditions, Southwest Monsoon has set in over Kerala today, the 8th June, 2023,” the statement added. In the days ahead, the monsoon conditions were “favourable” for further advancement into parts of the central Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Kerala, some parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, southwest, central and northeast Bay of Bengal and parts of northeastern India during next 48 hours, the IMD noted. The monsoon onset comes even as the ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ ‘Biparjoy’ fomenting in the east-central Arabian Sea continued to move nearly northwards. The IMD says it will intensify and travel further north and in the next three days, gradually turn towards the Yemen and Oman. Though the IMD is yet to comment officially, independent experts have said that the cyclone’s presence may hinder the progress of the monsoon with cyclonic winds diverting valuable moisture away from the land and into the sea. The monsoon this year is expected to be 96% of the Long Period Average of 87 cm, or at the lowest end of what the IMD considers ‘normal.’ PM Modi to address Indian-Americans in Washington on June 23: Community leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a gathering of Indian-Americans from across the U.S. in Washington on June 23 on the role of diaspora in India’s growth story, an eminent community leader has said. Prime Minister Modi is visiting the U.S. from June 21 to 24 at the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The U.S. President and the First Lady will host PM Modi at a State dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the Joint Session of the Congress on June 22. PM Modi will address an invitation-only gathering of diaspora leaders from across the country on the evening of June 23, Indian-American community leader Dr. Bharat Barai said. The prestigious RonaldReagan Building and International Trade Center, which has hosted several high-profile meetings in the past, has been reserved for the Prime Minister’s address. The venue, named after former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, has a capacity of 900 people, Barai said. The event would be hosted by the U.S. India Community Foundation. A co-host committee has also been set up. The community has been given wide representation in both committees, Barai stated. He said earlier the plans were to host PM Modi at a giant stadium in Chicago for him to address 40,000 Indian-Americans. But because of the scheduling issues, it could not be finalised. Mumbai man kills live-in-partner, chops body into pieces; detained by police A 56-year-old man was detained on June 7 evening for allegedly murdering his live-in partner and dismembering her body, police officials said. The suspect, identified as Manoj Sane, had been staying with Saraswati Vaidya in the rental flat in the Akashganga building in the Mira Road area over the past three years. On June 7, Nayanagar police station received a call from residents of the building, complaining about a foul odour emanating from the couple’s flat. As per the police, a preliminary investigation revealed that the woman had been brutally killed. “Police have found a body of a woman who had been cut into pieces, from a society in the Mira Road area. Here a couple was living in a live-in relationship. A preliminary investigation revealed that the woman was hacked to death. Further Investigation is underway,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Mumbai Jayant Bajbale said. NCP leader Supriya Sule described the incident as “extremely horrific and outrageous” and alleged that crime against women was on the rise in the state as criminals have no fear of law. She also said that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who handles the home portfolio, should concentrate on his department seriously. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, hit back saying Fadnavis was capable of taking action in the Mira Bhayandar case. In a tweet, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Sule said, “A woman was killed by her live-in partner in Mira Road area. The accused tried to dispose of the body by cutting it into pieces, which he crushed in a mixer and boiled in a pressure cooker. This incident is extremely horrific, inhuman and outrageous.” “Criminals don’t fear the rule of law and hence crime against women is on the rise. State Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis needs to concentrate on his department seriously. The accused should be tried in a fast-track court and hanged to death,” she said in the tweet in which she tagged Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Meanwhile, Chitra Wagh, state BJP women’s wing chief, hit out at Sule saying she was shedding crocodile tears. “Fadnavis is capable enough to take action in the Mira Road case. But you did not feel like speaking out when a minor girl at Manchar in Pune district was kidnapped by a Muslim boy, when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was in power, and was not found for two-and-a-half years. Had the MVA government intervened, then Shraddha Walkar would not have been cut into pieces,” she said. “Even a chameleon will feel ashamed to see how you change colours,” Wagh alleged. BJP mulls new alliances, Lok Sabha polls in mind In the midst of celebrating nine years of the Narendra Modi-led government, the BJP is also attempting to recalibrate its electoral strategy in different States, in the run-up to both the upcoming Assembly polls in five States and the next general election in 2024. Home Minister Amit Shah’s meeting with Telegu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has set off speculation that there could be a return to the NDA fold for Naidu, after having parted ways in 2019. According to sources, Naidu is keen to forge an alliance with the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, where he feels that Modi’s popularity and the BJP’s other ally, the Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party could help him regain power after the TDP was wiped out in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. Kalyan has been pushing for the three-party alliance for some time. The relationship between the BJP government at the Centre and the Y.S. Jagan-led YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh is an important consideration in all this; hence, the BJP is less than keen on an alliance with the TDP in Andhra Pradesh. The YSRCP has been a dependable partner in floor co-ordination in Parliament in the past for the BJP government, providing — along with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) — crucial support to pass important legislation. Therefore, the BJP has in principle decided to explore an alliance with the TDP, but will also be mindful of its other, unspoken ally in Andhra Pradesh. For the BJP, the crisis is more acute in the other Telugu-speaking state of Telangana, with the party not just battling factionalism within — with newcomers like Etela Rajendra facing off against State unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar — but the party high command is dismally aware that the BJP simply does not have enough candidates to field in all 119 seats in the State Assembly. With the Congress emerging victorious in Karnataka, defections from that party to the BJP are also not going to be of the calibre and strength that is required. There is also buzz that the Janata Dal (Secular), having suffered a rout in Karnataka, may approach the BJP for an alliance, for the very simple reason that it requires protection to prevent the poaching of its ranks by a resurgent Karnataka Congress. For the JD(S), this is a short-term tactic for survival, rather than a long-term strategy. While a BJP-JD(S) alliance will lead to a consolidation of minority votes for the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP may gain some traction in the Vokkaliga vote, which is a long-term aim to transcend the tag of just being a Lingayat party. Sources told The Hindu that the JD(S) is asking that four Lok Sabha seats — in Hassan, Mandya, Bangalore (Rural) and Chikkaballarpur — be kept aside for the party, while the BJP is still mulling the entire move. In Bihar too, the BJP is awaiting some defections from those who are not too comfortable with the Janata Dal (U) ceding space to the Rashtriya Janata Dal. BJP leaders say that a national role for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will propel his deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, to the CM’s chair in Bihar and trigger the decline of the JD(U). “In such a scenario, we must keep our options and doors open for joinings from JD(U),” said a senior BJP office-bearer privy to the intra-party conversation. The BJP’s recalibration of electoral strategy is not just because of its defeat in Karnataka. Last year, the party had increased its list of vulnerable seats from 113 to over 144, as BJP alliances in Maharashtra and Bihar came a cropper. The situation in 2024 will not be the same as in 2019, as some BJP allies, such as the Akali Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT) and JD(U), have left. A relook at who can be brought back into the fold to face 2024 — when the Opposition is planning to field a single candidate to face NDA candidates in many seats — is now on. OTT tobacco warnings: industry mulls resistance to surprise move Within three months, Indian streaming subscribers may start seeing something that no other online media customer in the world is required to — intrusive pop-up warnings during every single shot of a tobacco product being featured in a series or film, regardless of where or when that content was made; and in the beginning and middle of every film and TV show episode, a video warning to that effect. The streaming industry has been divided on how to push back on these sudden requirements, according to documents reviewed by The Hindu, and industry executives. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has termed this move as turning India into a “global leader” in tobacco control measures. The streaming industry, for its part, was alarmed. They were not consulted by the Health Ministry, two sources with knowledge of the situation said. In fact, even the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, which administers India’s streaming regulation apparatus, did not know that the move was being notified, an industry executive said. Streaming services have chosen not to comment on the matter publicly as they discuss next steps, which, according to sources, may include a legal challenge. Internally, though, a split has emerged, the executive said. Some streaming services — both domestic and foreign — are in favour of a legal challenge, but another camp is more amenable to pleading with the Health Ministry to soften the requirements. A Supreme Court case also remains pending on the inclusion of such messages on streaming platforms. In one draft industry representation viewed by The Hindu, the industry argued that the requirement to display a warning on every shot of tobacco would be intrusive to users’ viewing experience, particularly on small devices and when subtitles are turned on. The move could discourage international production houses from making their content available in India, the representation further argued. Most of all, the representation said, based on a survey conducted between March and April this year, there was no established link between tobacco depiction on streaming platforms and their uptake by young people. Viewers may not currently realise the scale of what awaits them next when streaming content. “This is insane,” fumed Suchin Mehrotra, a streaming critic and host of The Streaming Show podcast, after hearing about the Health Ministry’s notification. Mehrotra had just finished watching what he described as a “butchered” cut of a romantic comedy after paying a rental fee online, on a platform which ran the censored theatrical version of the film with smoking warnings on each shot where tobacco was featured. “There are so many different levels of dumb[ness] to this,” Mehrotra complained. “Okay, you’re enforcing it [the anti-smoking message] at the start of each episode — it’s frustrating, but we’re used to it every time we watch a movie; fair enough.” And then, the same message appears again in the middle of a TV show episode or a film, “which is absolutely insane”, Mehrotra said. “Plus, you show a message every time there is tobacco on screen. It just sounds like three different tiers of trying to make it a difficult experience” to watch content online, he said. Mehrotra further argued that the requirements would particularly impact advertising-supported streaming platforms, as viewers will have to wait not just for the end of an advertisement to watch the content they have selected, but also for the first anti-tobacco video warning, and that such intrusions might encourage piracy of international content that is available elsewhere without these warnings. It is not clear if the pro-litigation camp among the streaming services will proceed with the challenge. When it came to the IT Rules, 2021, after which the large streaming services largely stopped commissioning political, religious and sexually explicit content, the industry largely complied with the requirements, even though the Rules were stayed in multiple High Courts, and are currently pending in the Supreme Court. Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee’s wife appears before ED in coal pilferage case Senior Trinamool Congress leader leader Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Kolkata on June 8 for questioning in the coal pilferage case, officials said. A panel of five officers, including those from New Delhi, was interrogating Banerjee, they added. According to an ED source, the investigators have prepared a three-page questionnaire for her. Banerjee was stopped at the Kolkata airport on June 8 when she was going to UAE with her two children. She was then served the summons for appearing before the agency at 11 a.m. on June 8. However, she reached the CGO Complex at around 12.40 p.m. with her lawyer. Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleged that the “harassment” meted out to his family was aimed at stopping his outreach campaign ahead of the Panchayat Elections in West Bengal. Tight security arrangements were made around the CGO Complex to prevent any untoward incident, a senior police officer said. Both the CBI and the ED earlier questioned Banerjee in the case. The CBI was probing the scam over illegally-mined coal from the abandoned mines of Eastern Coalfields, estimated to be worth thousands of crores of rupees, officials said. They said the crime proceeds were transacted through the Hawala route, which the ED was probing. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged the ED’s action to be a political vendetta by the BJP. Whenever Abhishek Banerjee was summoned, he cooperated. But the way his family is being harassed is shameful. This is nothing but a political vendetta by the BJP,” TMC’s State General Secretary Kunal Ghosh said. “The BJP is afraid of the TMC’s ‘Nabojowar’ campaign ahead of the Panchayat polls, and also wants to divert the attention from the train accident,” he claimed. The State BJP said the CBI and ED were independent agencies, devoid of any political influence. In Brief: RBI keeps repo rate unchanged, retains FY24 GDP growth forecast at 6.5% The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, on June 8 decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.50%. The standing deposit facility (SDF) rate remains unchanged at 6.25% and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75%, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said. This is the second time that the policy rate has been paused after a 250 basis point conservative rate hike to curb inflation. DRDO successfully flight-tests New Generation Ballistic Missile ‘Agni Prime’ off Odisha The new generation ballistic missile ‘Agni Prime’ was successfully flight-tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha on June 7 night. “This was the first pre-induction night launch conducted by the users after three successful developmental trials of the missile, validating the accuracy and reliability of the system. Range Instrumentation like Radar, Telemetry and Electro Optical Tracking Systems were deployed at different locations, including two down-range ships, at the terminal point to capture flight data covering the entire trajectory of the vehicle,” a Defence Ministry statement said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 08 June 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( IMD declares arrival of monsoon in Kerala [The southwest monsoon arrived in Kerala on June 8, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said]( on June 8, four days later than the original forecast date of June 4 and nearly a week after its ‘normal’ onset date of June 1. “Southwest Monsoon has advanced into remaining parts of south Arabian Sea and some parts of central Arabian Sea, entire Lakshadweep area, most parts of Kerala, most parts of south Tamil Nadu, remaining parts of Comorin area, Gulf of Mannar and some more parts of southwest, central and northeast Bay of Bengal,” the agency said in a statement. Apart from “widespread rainfall” over Kerala, other criteria that must be met include windspeed of a minimum strength and at a particular depth in the atmosphere and a degree of clouding that ensures consistent rains, as the monsoon travels into the mainland. “The strength of westerly winds in the lower levels has increased and is about 19 knots. There has been widespread rainfall over Kerala during past 24 hours. Considering all the above satisfied conditions, Southwest Monsoon has set in over Kerala today, the 8th June, 2023,” the statement added. In the days ahead, the monsoon conditions were “favourable” for further advancement into parts of the central Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Kerala, some parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, southwest, central and northeast Bay of Bengal and parts of northeastern India during next 48 hours, the IMD noted. The monsoon onset comes even as the ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ ‘Biparjoy’ fomenting in the east-central Arabian Sea continued to move nearly northwards. The IMD says it will intensify and travel further north and in the next three days, gradually turn towards the Yemen and Oman. Though the IMD is yet to comment officially, independent experts have said that the cyclone’s presence may hinder the progress of the monsoon with cyclonic winds diverting valuable moisture away from the land and into the sea. The monsoon this year is expected to be 96% of the Long Period Average of 87 cm, or at the lowest end of what the IMD considers ‘normal.’ PM Modi to address Indian-Americans in Washington on June 23: Community leader [Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a gathering of Indian-Americans from across the U.S. in Washington on June 23]( the role of diaspora in India’s growth story, an eminent community leader has said. Prime Minister Modi is visiting the U.S. from June 21 to 24 at the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The U.S. President and the First Lady will host PM Modi at a State dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the Joint Session of the Congress on June 22. PM Modi will address an invitation-only gathering of diaspora leaders from across the country on the evening of June 23, Indian-American community leader Dr. Bharat Barai said. The prestigious RonaldReagan Building and International Trade Center, which has hosted several high-profile meetings in the past, has been reserved for the Prime Minister’s address. The venue, named after former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, has a capacity of 900 people, Barai said. The event would be hosted by the U.S. India Community Foundation. A co-host committee has also been set up. The community has been given wide representation in both committees, Barai stated. He said earlier the plans were to host PM Modi at a giant stadium in Chicago for him to address 40,000 Indian-Americans. But because of the scheduling issues, it could not be finalised. Mumbai man kills live-in-partner, chops body into pieces; detained by police [A 56-year-old man was detained on June 7 evening for allegedly murdering his live-in partner and dismembering her body]( police officials said. The suspect, identified as Manoj Sane, had been staying with Saraswati Vaidya in the rental flat in the Akashganga building in the Mira Road area over the past three years. On June 7, Nayanagar police station received a call from residents of the building, complaining about a foul odour emanating from the couple’s flat. As per the police, a preliminary investigation revealed that the woman had been brutally killed. “Police have found a body of a woman who had been cut into pieces, from a society in the Mira Road area. Here a couple was living in a live-in relationship. A preliminary investigation revealed that the woman was hacked to death. Further Investigation is underway,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Mumbai Jayant Bajbale said. NCP leader Supriya Sule described the incident as “extremely horrific and outrageous” and alleged that crime against women was on the rise in the state as criminals have no fear of law. She also said that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who handles the home portfolio, should concentrate on his department seriously. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, hit back saying Fadnavis was capable of taking action in the Mira Bhayandar case. In a tweet, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Sule said, “A woman was killed by her live-in partner in Mira Road area. The accused tried to dispose of the body by cutting it into pieces, which he crushed in a mixer and boiled in a pressure cooker. This incident is extremely horrific, inhuman and outrageous.” “Criminals don’t fear the rule of law and hence crime against women is on the rise. State Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis needs to concentrate on his department seriously. The accused should be tried in a fast-track court and hanged to death,” she said in the tweet in which she tagged Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Meanwhile, Chitra Wagh, state BJP women’s wing chief, hit out at Sule saying she was shedding crocodile tears. “Fadnavis is capable enough to take action in the Mira Road case. But you did not feel like speaking out when a minor girl at Manchar in Pune district was kidnapped by a Muslim boy, when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was in power, and was not found for two-and-a-half years. Had the MVA government intervened, then Shraddha Walkar would not have been cut into pieces,” she said. “Even a chameleon will feel ashamed to see how you change colours,” Wagh alleged. BJP mulls new alliances, Lok Sabha polls in mind In the midst of celebrating nine years of the Narendra Modi-led government, the [BJP is also attempting to recalibrate its electoral strategy in different States]( in the run-up to both the upcoming Assembly polls in five States and the next general election in 2024. Home Minister Amit Shah’s meeting with Telegu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has set off speculation that there could be a return to the NDA fold for Naidu, after having parted ways in 2019. According to sources, Naidu is keen to forge an alliance with the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, where he feels that Modi’s popularity and the BJP’s other ally, the Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party could help him regain power after the TDP was wiped out in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. Kalyan has been pushing for the three-party alliance for some time. The relationship between the BJP government at the Centre and the Y.S. Jagan-led YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh is an important consideration in all this; hence, the BJP is less than keen on an alliance with the TDP in Andhra Pradesh. The YSRCP has been a dependable partner in floor co-ordination in Parliament in the past for the BJP government, providing — along with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) — crucial support to pass important legislation. Therefore, the BJP has in principle decided to explore an alliance with the TDP, but will also be mindful of its other, unspoken ally in Andhra Pradesh. For the BJP, the crisis is more acute in the other Telugu-speaking state of Telangana, with the party not just battling factionalism within — with newcomers like Etela Rajendra facing off against State unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar — but the party high command is dismally aware that the BJP simply does not have enough candidates to field in all 119 seats in the State Assembly. With the Congress emerging victorious in Karnataka, defections from that party to the BJP are also not going to be of the calibre and strength that is required. There is also buzz that the Janata Dal (Secular), having suffered a rout in Karnataka, may approach the BJP for an alliance, for the very simple reason that it requires protection to prevent the poaching of its ranks by a resurgent Karnataka Congress. For the JD(S), this is a short-term tactic for survival, rather than a long-term strategy. While a BJP-JD(S) alliance will lead to a consolidation of minority votes for the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP may gain some traction in the Vokkaliga vote, which is a long-term aim to transcend the tag of just being a Lingayat party. Sources told The Hindu that the JD(S) is asking that four Lok Sabha seats — in Hassan, Mandya, Bangalore (Rural) and Chikkaballarpur — be kept aside for the party, while the BJP is still mulling the entire move. In Bihar too, the BJP is awaiting some defections from those who are not too comfortable with the Janata Dal (U) ceding space to the Rashtriya Janata Dal. BJP leaders say that a national role for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will propel his deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, to the CM’s chair in Bihar and trigger the decline of the JD(U). “In such a scenario, we must keep our options and doors open for joinings from JD(U),” said a senior BJP office-bearer privy to the intra-party conversation. The BJP’s recalibration of electoral strategy is not just because of its defeat in Karnataka. Last year, the party had increased its list of vulnerable seats from 113 to over 144, as BJP alliances in Maharashtra and Bihar came a cropper. The situation in 2024 will not be the same as in 2019, as some BJP allies, such as the Akali Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT) and JD(U), have left. A relook at who can be brought back into the fold to face 2024 — when the Opposition is planning to field a single candidate to face NDA candidates in many seats — is now on. OTT tobacco warnings: industry mulls resistance to surprise move Within three months, Indian streaming subscribers may start seeing something that no other online media customer in the world is required to — [intrusive pop-up warnings during every single shot of a tobacco product being featured in a series or film]( regardless of where or when that content was made; and in the beginning and middle of every film and TV show episode, a video warning to that effect. The streaming industry has been divided on how to push back on these sudden requirements, according to documents reviewed by The Hindu, and industry executives. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has termed this move as turning India into a “global leader” in tobacco control measures. The streaming industry, for its part, was alarmed. They were not consulted by the Health Ministry, two sources with knowledge of the situation said. In fact, even the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, which administers India’s streaming regulation apparatus, did not know that the move was being notified, an industry executive said. Streaming services have chosen not to comment on the matter publicly as they discuss next steps, which, according to sources, may include a legal challenge. Internally, though, a split has emerged, the executive said. Some streaming services — both domestic and foreign — are in favour of a legal challenge, but another camp is more amenable to pleading with the Health Ministry to soften the requirements. A Supreme Court case also remains pending on the inclusion of such messages on streaming platforms. In one draft industry representation viewed by The Hindu, the industry argued that the requirement to display a warning on every shot of tobacco would be intrusive to users’ viewing experience, particularly on small devices and when subtitles are turned on. The move could discourage international production houses from making their content available in India, the representation further argued. Most of all, the representation said, based on a survey conducted between March and April this year, there was no established link between tobacco depiction on streaming platforms and their uptake by young people. Viewers may not currently realise the scale of what awaits them next when streaming content. “This is insane,” fumed Suchin Mehrotra, a streaming critic and host of The Streaming Show podcast, after hearing about the Health Ministry’s notification. Mehrotra had just finished watching what he described as a “butchered” cut of a romantic comedy after paying a rental fee online, on a platform which ran the censored theatrical version of the film with smoking warnings on each shot where tobacco was featured. “There are so many different levels of dumb[ness] to this,” Mehrotra complained. “Okay, you’re enforcing it [the anti-smoking message] at the start of each episode — it’s frustrating, but we’re used to it every time we watch a movie; fair enough.” And then, the same message appears again in the middle of a TV show episode or a film, “which is absolutely insane”, Mehrotra said. “Plus, you show a message every time there is tobacco on screen. It just sounds like three different tiers of trying to make it a difficult experience” to watch content online, he said. Mehrotra further argued that the requirements would particularly impact advertising-supported streaming platforms, as viewers will have to wait not just for the end of an advertisement to watch the content they have selected, but also for the first anti-tobacco video warning, and that such intrusions might encourage piracy of international content that is available elsewhere without these warnings. It is not clear if the pro-litigation camp among the streaming services will proceed with the challenge. When it came to the IT Rules, 2021, after which the large streaming services largely stopped commissioning political, religious and sexually explicit content, the industry largely complied with the requirements, even though the Rules were stayed in multiple High Courts, and are currently pending in the Supreme Court. Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee’s wife appears before ED in coal pilferage case Senior Trinamool Congress leader leader [Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira appeared before the Enforcement Directorate]( (ED) in Kolkata on June 8 for questioning in the coal pilferage case, officials said. A panel of five officers, including those from New Delhi, was interrogating Banerjee, they added. According to an ED source, the investigators have prepared a three-page questionnaire for her. Banerjee was stopped at the Kolkata airport on June 8 when she was going to UAE with her two children. She was then served the summons for appearing before the agency at 11 a.m. on June 8. However, she reached the CGO Complex at around 12.40 p.m. with her lawyer. Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleged that the “harassment” meted out to his family was aimed at stopping his outreach campaign ahead of the Panchayat Elections in West Bengal. Tight security arrangements were made around the CGO Complex to prevent any untoward incident, a senior police officer said. Both the CBI and the ED earlier questioned Banerjee in the case. The CBI was probing the scam over illegally-mined coal from the abandoned mines of Eastern Coalfields, estimated to be worth thousands of crores of rupees, officials said. They said the crime proceeds were transacted through the Hawala route, which the ED was probing. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged the ED’s action to be a political vendetta by the BJP. Whenever Abhishek Banerjee was summoned, he cooperated. But the way his family is being harassed is shameful. This is nothing but a political vendetta by the BJP,” TMC’s State General Secretary Kunal Ghosh said. “The BJP is afraid of the TMC’s ‘Nabojowar’ campaign ahead of the Panchayat polls, and also wants to divert the attention from the train accident,” he claimed. The State BJP said the CBI and ED were independent agencies, devoid of any political influence. In Brief: RBI keeps repo rate unchanged, retains FY24 GDP growth forecast at 6.5% The [Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, on June 8 decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.50%](. The standing deposit facility (SDF) rate remains unchanged at 6.25% and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75%, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said. This is the second time that the policy rate has been paused after a 250 basis point conservative rate hike to curb inflation. DRDO successfully flight-tests New Generation Ballistic Missile ‘Agni Prime’ off Odisha The new generation ballistic missile [‘Agni Prime’ was successfully flight-tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha on June 7 night](. “This was the first pre-induction night launch conducted by the users after three successful developmental trials of the missile, validating the accuracy and reliability of the system. Range Instrumentation like Radar, Telemetry and Electro Optical Tracking Systems were deployed at different locations, including two down-range ships, at the terminal point to capture flight data covering the entire trajectory of the vehicle,” a Defence Ministry statement said. 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