- 7/8/2025
On News Today, the focus is on the imminent announcement of a limited trade deal between India and the United States. Sources indicate that agriculture and dairy products will not be included in this initial agreement. The programme also covers the escalating language war in Mumbai, with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena UBT protesting against perceived injustices to Marathi speakers. The language debate in Maharashtra has intensified, with political parties clashing over Marathi pride and alleged Hindi imposition. The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have opposed recent government orders making Hindi mandatory in schools from class 1 to 5. Critics argue this is an attempt to diminish Marathi language and culture. The ruling Shiv Sena faction defends the government's stance, citing efforts to promote Marathi. The controversy has sparked wider discussions on language politics, cultural identity and the balance between regional languages and Hindi across India. Violence and intimidation tactics by some groups have been condemned. Additionally, the show addresses the ban on old cars in Delhi NCR to combat pollution, and the government's response to X's (formerly Twitter) claims of press censorship in India. Other top stories include the Air India plane crash probe and Bihar's election promises.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good evening, hello and welcome. You're with the news today. This is your prime time destination news.
00:05Newsmakers, talking points, the big talking point tonight, the language war which is dividing Mumbai.
00:12Is it with an eye on the crucial Mumbai municipal polls?
00:16How does the Thakre reunion impact politics?
00:20Also a ban in the national capital on old cars. How does that impact pollution?
00:24Plus of course, all the day's other top stories and we have plenty of breaking news for you tonight.
00:31But first as always, it's time for the 9 headlines at 9.
00:38A limited trade deal between India and the United States likely to be announced shortly.
00:45Top sources tell India today that agriculture dairy products will not be part of what is being described as a mini interim deal.
00:54Government of India rejects X's press censorship serious charge.
01:03Says never ask Twitter to block Reuters handles and other handles.
01:09IT ministry claims X was asked to immediately unblock accounts.
01:14This after the must-led social media site claimed there was press censorship in India.
01:19Air India plane crash probe team submits preliminary report to the Government Parliamentary Committee seeks timeline for complete probe report to be presented on the Air India plane crash.
01:37Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's big woman outreach before the Bihar elections promises 35% quota and government jobs for women from the state.
01:49The MNS keeps the heat on over the language row.
01:57MNS and Sena UBT workers raise slogans against injustice to Marathi people on the road slam police and state government.
02:05Several protesters detained by the cops.
02:07A fuel ban for overage vehicles in the Delhi NCR region will come into effect from the 1st of November.
02:16Fuel to be denied to old diesel and petrol cars.
02:19Curbs to be imposed in five NCR districts as well.
02:24The Congress plays down CM vs. Deputy Chief Minister fight in Karnataka.
02:28This has even more MLA's demand.
02:30DK Shiv Kumar will be made to be made Chief Minister.
02:33A tragic accident in Tamil Nadu's Khandalore.
02:39Three students killed as school bus and train collide.
02:42DMK alleges railway gatekeeper didn't understand Tamil cites a language barrier.
02:50Himachal cloudburst and flood deck toll climbs to 80 damage.
02:54This is estimated at nearly 700 floors.
02:57IAF airlifts relief material.
02:59Let's turn to the story that's breaking at this moment.
03:15That big Indo-US trade deal could be now officially announced a short while from now.
03:23What we are told is a limited trade deal is in the offing.
03:27Sources telling India today, India has held firm on its key demands that agriculture and dairy products will not be part of this trade deal.
03:36At least not the first one.
03:38Sources saying the United States is showing a willingness to engage on a range of issues.
03:43Therefore, the limited deal is expected to cover only a few select sectors.
03:48A broader trade fact later is what we are being told.
03:52The announcement of the deal can be expected in hours.
03:55But remember with Donald Trump, you never know when he will make that announcement.
04:00But Karishpa Asudhani of Business Today joins us for more.
04:04Karishpa, this has been in the works for several weeks now.
04:07The Indian trade delegation team was in Washington over days.
04:11Is that deal likely to be announced today?
04:13And if so, what's the major talking point out of it?
04:16Rajdeep, the deal announcement is at the 11th hour.
04:22It could happen tonight.
04:23It could happen tomorrow.
04:24It could also happen later in the days because now we know that July 9 is not the deadline.
04:29It's going to be August 1st since when the tariff implementation is going to be officially taken up.
04:35Sources have already told us that the negotiations have resulted in a limited pact deal, which means that it is completed, but it awaits not from the top authority.
04:47Most likely we are talking about President Donald Trump here, who will have to give a green signal to this.
04:54And that could happen at any moment.
04:57India has been clear on the fact it's taken a tough stance.
05:00We have not budged on what's important to us on sectors that have that whole significance for us when it comes to our domestic production, be it wheat, maize, dairy, soy or genetically modified crops, which U.S. has been keen on asking for a freedom intake.
05:20But looks like the government of India has taken a tough stance on this.
05:25In fact, my sources have told me that this is going to be one hell of a breaking deal.
05:30Also have shared that in case this wouldn't have taken place, India was ready to take in the 26% tariff, but was not letting to go away of the fact that it's going to budge on sectors important for the country.
05:48Okay, so agriculture, dairy products are off the table as of now.
05:52So it's likely to be a more limited deal.
05:54We'll see whether other goods like electronics, which also have been contentious at one level, are included in this limited trade deal.
06:01Karishma Asudhani for joining me there.
06:03Appreciate your joining us.
06:04Let's turn to the other breaking news that we are getting at the top of the show tonight.
06:08Because there's an escalating war now between the government of India versus X.
06:13Remember the social media site, formerly Twitter, controlled by Elon Musk.
06:19The IT ministry has now been forced to counter and X claimed that there was censorship and that several accounts had been blocked.
06:28The government claims that X had claimed that the government had ordered the blocking of Reuters, the global agency handle, and claimed that there were concerns over press freedom in India, that there was press censorship in India.
06:40The Modi government has been forced to respond and they are claiming the government has not issued any fresh blocking order on 3rd of July and has no intention to block any prominent international news channels, including Reuters and Reuters World.
06:54The moment Reuters and Reuters World were blocked on X platform in India, immediately the government wrote to X to unblock them.
07:01X has unnecessarily exploited technicalities involved around the process, didn't unblock the URLs.
07:08After a lot of follow-up on an hourly basis, they took more than 21 hours to unblock Reuters.
07:14Aishwarya Paliwal now joins me.
07:16Aishwarya, we've got two different versions.
07:19We've got X, the social media site, claiming that the Indian government asked them to block more than 2,000 sites, including Reuters.
07:26Now the government of India hitting back.
07:28But this doesn't do any good to India's image when a global site, which is led by Elon Musk, no less, accuses the Modi government of press censorship.
07:38But you know, Rajdeep, we are seeing claims and counterclaims coming in.
07:45And this is not the first time that we are seeing X making these kind of statements.
07:48In fact, the moment the government, the Indian government got to know that Reuters, in fact, was not available in India, it was being withheld.
07:55We understand late at night, the Indian government had got in touch with X and they had asked them to undo what had happened.
08:02X now claiming, and this is not the first time.
08:04In fact, you know, Rajdeep, as you and I are speaking, we are seeing a battle ongoing between X and the government of India in the Karnataka High Court.
08:11We are seeing orders coming out.
08:13Section 69 of the IT Act, that is something that X has been pointing towards.
08:17This section gives the government the powers to write down to all the social media platforms and ask them to take down content which the government believes is not right for India.
08:25A government has come out and given out a statement.
08:28What will X do next?
08:29That's the big question for now.
08:30No, but why was Reuters, you see, Rajdeep, coming out.
08:33No, no, but I swear, Reuters is a global site.
08:36So, when X says that Reuters was being blocked, surely X would not do it on its own.
08:41There will be questions, there were questions during Operation Sindur and these questions are now being asked again.
08:47Is the government trying to block anyone who is seen as inconvenient?
08:50Well, Rajdeep, the government comes out and gives very clear statements and they are saying that they are not doing anything like that.
09:00In fact, late at night also, when we in fact had got in touch with the IT ministry, they had clearly said that these orders were not given from their side.
09:08So, technicalities is something that the government at the moment is speaking about.
09:11They are saying that the moment they got to know that Reuters, Reuters world was not available, withheld is something that they were seeing.
09:18They immediately got in touch with X.
09:19X, however, has given out a lengthy statement and they are now saying that they will look at legal options.
09:24But the ongoing battle is still continuing in the Karnataka High Court between X and the Indian government, Rajdeep.
09:30Okay, Elon Musk and Narendra Modi on other sides of the fence on this particular issue.
09:36Aishwarya Paliwal joining us with those details.
09:39Let me turn to another focus tonight.
09:41The language Rao in Maharashtra, in Mumbai in particular, is showing no signs of ending.
09:47Today, several members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the party led by Raj Thakre, were detained during a protest march they took out on the issue in Thane.
09:56The latest face-off started with MNS workers having assaulted a shopkeeper last week for not speaking in Marathi.
10:03The incident sparked angry reactions but has also now led to a political face-off.
10:09We will focus in a moment on this language issue but first take a look at all that happened today.
10:17For the past several weeks, MNS workers have been making news for the wrong reasons.
10:34Assaulting North Indian labourers and vendors after they expressed their inability to converse in Marathi, Maharashtra's native language.
10:42But the breaking point has been this incident from earlier this month, where a food stall owner in Bhayandar area was slapped by some MNS workers for not speaking Marathi.
10:54It led to a tit-for-tat face-off on Tuesday, when several workers of Raj Thakre's party were detained during a rally to counter a protest staged by traders in Maharashtra
11:10over the assault of a food stall owner for not speaking Marathi.
11:14Protests and Meera Bhayandar area brought Thane district to a standstill, with heavy police deployment and road blockage affecting traffic movement.
11:32Despite no police permission for the rally, on the route, MNS workers planned to march to Mumbai.
11:38However, the swift detention of MNS's Thane and Palgar heads and other leaders derailed the party's plans.
11:45The large number of MNS workers were gathered here, the situation was getting out of hand, and this was not a very legit protest,
11:55according to the police, which had not given them the permission.
11:58And that's one of the reasons why, you know, the detention of these people took place in large numbers.
12:04And protested is in which way, we have to get the protest.
12:07The protest is now coming from the street, but we have to get the very big money.
12:11We have to take the Marathi out of one place.
12:13We have to take the rest of the country, and we have to get the money.
12:16Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Farnavish says, MNS workers did not follow permitted route.
12:22While the battle over Marathi pride raged on in the streets of Maharashtra, political war
12:42words also escalated.
13:12If you have a war, you have to fight against the people of Maharashtra, Marathi and Marathi people of Maharashtra
13:22and Marathi people, and Marathi people do not fight against them.
13:31You must be a strong, strong, strong, strong, strong, strong.
13:36The language face-off comes ahead of possible BMC elections
13:53and has brought the warring Thakres together after two decades.
13:57Uddhav Thakre and Raj Thakre had held a joint victory day celebration on Saturday
14:01after the Fadnavis government dropped a plan
14:03to make Hindi the third language in primary schools.
14:07But can Marathi Manu's politics, then the BJP's Hindutva card, remains to be seen?
14:14With Vidya in Mumbai, Bureau Report, India Today.
14:19And joining me now is Priyanka Chaturvedi, Member of Parliament of the Shiv Sena UBT.
14:25Appreciate your joining us, ma'am.
14:28You are a Mumbai car of North Indian origin.
14:32Presumably, Hindi is your mother tongue.
14:34Aren't you embarrassed, then, when you see the MNS going around the streets of Mumbai,
14:40targeting, threatening those who don't speak Marathi, especially North Indians?
14:44So, firstly, Rajdeep, I'd like to begin by saying that, yes, I am a first-generation North Indian
14:56migrant from Uttar Pradesh.
14:58And I have been living in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
15:00And Mumbai has given me my career, has given me opportunities, has given my parents the opportunities.
15:05And that's why we have managed to thrive in a state like Maharashtra.
15:08And we have only gratitude for people of Maharashtra, gratitude for Maharashtra, and gratitude
15:14for the language and their culture.
15:16Those who are ungrateful, who provoke, who create problems, who humiliate, who insult,
15:23out of the one and a half crore population of other states that are residing and coexisting
15:28peacefully with Maharashtra and Maharashtra, there are a few who do create these problems.
15:33And if these problems lead to violence, there is a law and order mechanism which adheres to it.
15:38So, no, I'm not embarrassed about things that have escalated.
15:42But, yes, I would have been further embarrassed if what Bharatiya Janta Party is using my Hindi
15:47language to try and divide people of Maharashtra, to divide state versus state.
15:54Priyanka Ji, I just want to stop.
15:55Which they try to do very serenctiously.
15:57No, no, I asked you about the MNS quite simply because the Shiv Sena UBT held a joint rally
16:03with the MNS on the weekend.
16:04You described it as a historic moment.
16:07And the MNS continues in a way to target migrants from North India or those who they claim don't
16:13speak Marathi or speak Hindi.
16:15I want to be very clear from you.
16:16Do you condemn that kind of behavior?
16:18I'm sorry.
16:22No.
16:22So, Rajdeep, you'll have to allow me to complete.
16:25Because the problem did not start with what MNS did.
16:28The problem began with what Maharashtra state government tried to do.
16:32And what especially the Bharatiya Janta Party tried to do.
16:35And let's not forget, Bharatiya Janta Party is a political front which has divided people
16:39on the base of religion, on the base of caste and now on the base of language and now state
16:42versus state.
16:43They've done this in Maharashtra too where they experimented Marathas versus OBCs.
16:47It's a trite and tested toolkit that they have unleashed.
16:52And even after having to withdraw, they have members of parliament like Nishikan Dubey
16:56making the kind of most poisonous comments about people of Maharashtra.
17:00So, who is speaking against Maharashtra?
17:01And Maharashtra's interest is not people from North India or MNS.
17:05It is these very people who sow hatred in the minds of people.
17:09So, I was just bringing the context here.
17:11So, if they have taken law and order in their own hand, which is MNS, and they have not
17:15continued to target.
17:16When they came on the stage together, yes, it was a historic moment because both of their
17:20efforts managed to ensure that Bharatiya Janta Party's politics of divide and rule and playing
17:26politics through a language imposition does not happen.
17:30And the question which Mr. Raj Sartre asked even from that platform was, okay, if Hindi
17:35was a language that you made us, made it the third language for Maharashtra, what is the
17:39third language for Hindi speaking states?
17:41So, if they have options to learn a language that the children prefer, why do children
17:46from Maharashtra don't have that preference?
17:48And we have also clearly distinguished ourselves from how Tamil Nadu's fight against Hindi imposition
17:55is.
17:55We have a thriving Hindi film industry in Maharashtra.
17:58We have Bollywood.
17:59We have a television industry which is thriving.
18:01Out of the 12 crore people in Maharashtra, 1.5 crore come from states which are Hindi speaking.
18:07Why is it that everyone co-exists?
18:10Whether they know Hindi Marathi or they don't know Marathi, it is when you start to humiliate,
18:14when you start to undermine, when you undermine a culture of a state which has given you just
18:19about everything.
18:20That is where the problem arises.
18:22Ma'am, you are using very strong words.
18:24You are saying there is an attempt to humiliate Marathi culture.
18:29You are saying this is BJP's politics of divide and rule, but they will turn around and say
18:35that it is the MNS and the Shiv Sena UBT with an eye on the BMC election which is taking
18:41up this issue of the three language formula and education to try and bring together the
18:45Marathi Manus and make the North Indian the enemy figure.
18:50So, in a strange way, that will also be seen as divide and rule.
18:53Marathi versus non-Marathi.
18:55No, no, they can, let me, no, no, no, one second.
19:00Let me tell you, it wasn't, it was of course as political parties, the MNS, Shiv Sena, UBT
19:06which is my party, they had raised this issue, but there was also the left, there was also
19:11the Marathi proponents of the language, those who have been fighting for the language to
19:16become a classical language.
19:18So, you know, it wasn't just limited to a vote bank politics, please.
19:22It was more about, when we had the celebratory, you know, coming together of the two brothers,
19:28it was not under a political banner.
19:30It was under the interest of the state of Maharashtra.
19:33It had nothing to do with politics.
19:35Ma'am, come on, are you telling me that there is no talk of a political alliance between the
19:40Thakirian brothers ahead of the BMC election and that this is being seen as the first step
19:44towards that?
19:45If, if, no, no, again, I'm, no, no, of course there has been a reconciliation on an issue
19:52which is close to even Uddav Thakirji's heart, even close to Raj Thakirji's heart, which again
19:57brought them together on the same platform after 19 years and that in itself is historic.
20:02But what is the politics behind it is what BJP began.
20:05BJP did not consult any other political party.
20:08They brought in a GR surreptiously.
20:10They did not have an all-party meeting.
20:12They did not tell us how it is going to function.
20:15They did not even hear the opposition to it.
20:17And that is why you saw an opposition not just coming from political fronts.
20:21It came from everyone possible and you saw them even at that victory rally that we had
20:25at the NSCI dome.
20:27They were people who have fought passionately for the cause of Maharashtra, its culture,
20:31its values, its language.
20:33So to reduce it to, oh, look, BMC elections are coming, please let's not reduce it to that.
20:38This fight has not been for BMC or for state government elections or for Lok Sabha.
20:44Okay.
20:44Do you believe to Priyanka ji?
20:46Absolutely.
20:46I believe that every time any state, can I, yes, I will just complete it.
20:52Please complete it.
20:53And I will reiterate it because you've asked me this again very emphatically.
20:56So very emphatically, I shall tell you, what has begun by the Bharatiya Janata Party was
21:01a case of politics.
21:03What was pushed back was the collective strength of those people who believe that the supremacy
21:10of a state cannot be reduced by the politics of the BJP, which is on the base of religion,
21:15which is on the base of caste, which is on the base of state versus state, which is on
21:18the base of a language.
21:19Okay.
21:20Can I, can I therefore ask you, do you believe, do you believe Marathi should be, ma'am, ma'am,
21:25just a minute.
21:25Do you believe therefore, I've heard you out, do you believe that Marathi should be mandatory
21:30in, in Mumbai and indeed Maharashtra, it's the language of the state.
21:34Should it be mandatory for everyone therefore to learn Marathi?
21:37Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, it should be, why should it not be, does Bengali, do
21:46Bengali schools do not make Bengali mandatory, do Karnataka schools in Karnataka don't make
21:52Karnataka mandatory, do schools in Tamil Nadu not make Tamil mandatory, Punjab doesn't
21:59have Punjab as a mandatory language, whichever language you go to, whichever state you go to,
22:03which have held on to their language identities, have ensured that the language is safe, but
22:08unfortunately, if you go to Rajasthan, you go to Uttar Pradesh, okay, now, now since you're
22:12asking about mandatory language, I cannot even speak Braj Bhasha, where my parents come from,
22:17and that's a dialect which has lost its context, and that is an unfortunate thing because it
22:22was, you know, it was a lie for centuries, but we've just let it go, so it is absolutely
22:27all right for a state to fight for its cultural values as well as its language and to safeguard
22:32its language.
22:33But do you, do you, do you speak, do you speak, do you speak, do you speak, do you speak,
22:37do you speak, do you speak, do you speak, do you speak Marathi yourself Priyanka, because
22:39I've heard the Shiv Sena, Shinde Sena question, why is Priyanka Chaturvedi, who's a, of North
22:46Indian origin given a Rajasaba, why has the Shiv Sena over the years given tickets to people
22:51from other states if they have so much animus against North Indians, do you speak Marathi,
22:56and do you believe that the point is well, it should be taken that, should politics also
23:02be reserved only for Maharashtrians.
23:06Now, again I shall repeat, Maharashtrians or non-Maharashtrians, if they are speaking
23:11for the rights of Maharashtra, I think they are doing their responsibility towards the
23:15state of Maharashtra.
23:16I would want to ask the Shinde Sena, how many of them actually spoke up of Marathi becoming
23:20a classical language.
23:22How many people in their parliamentary delegations went out and met diaspora which comes from Maharashtra.
23:27How many of them are working towards creating a bridge so that the next generation of people
23:32who have migrated from India that come from Maharashtra continue to speak the Marathi language.
23:36And then I shall speak about what I have done, what I have not done.
23:39And I shall not be giving certificates or receiving certificates from a political party which has
23:44appropriated the legacy of Bala Sahib Thakri ji and says that they are the true inheritors.
23:50So they giving me certificates are not the certificates I seek or my party seeks.
23:54My party and I am proud of the fact that while you will accuse my party of being against North
23:58Indians which is absolutely incorrect, untrue or even accusation of we being against Hindi
24:04language.
24:05Which is again incorrect, untrue.
24:06Absolutely.
24:07What we are saying is that the dignity of the state.
24:11I say this on every platform.
24:25And again like I said, unfortunately for me I tried to learn French.
24:28I could not learn French.
24:30I tried to learn Braj Bhasha which belongs to my parents.
24:33I could not learn that.
24:34Maybe I have a language deficiency for sure.
24:38But my intention for the state of Maharashtra would be way above my commitment to any other
24:44thing that I have in life.
24:46Because everything that I have received in life is from Maharashtra and every single effort
24:50that I make would be for the betterment of the people of Maharashtra.
24:53It could be a language deficiency on my part.
24:55Right.
24:56And y'all can hold me to account for that from every particular position possible.
25:00But you cannot hold me to account that I haven't spoken for the interest of the people of Maharashtra.
25:06Fair point.
25:07And that is a responsibility I will carry with me all my life.
25:09Thank you so much.
25:10Fair point Priyanka Chaturvedi.
25:11And I appreciate you joining us and speaking out on this contentious issue.
25:16Thank you so much.
25:20Okay let's raise the big question there.
25:22Language Rao in Maharashtra.
25:23Is it about politics or culture?
25:25Can Marathi Manu's dent Hindutva?
25:27Language politics or Gundagardi?
25:29We heard Priyanka Chaturvedi of Sena UBT.
25:31I want to widen it.
25:32Smriti Kopikar is a senior journalist who has tracked Mumbai for decades.
25:35Sushi Ben Shah is spokesperson of the Shiv Sena, that's the Shinde group.
25:39And Bharat Dabolka author and writer and theatre person has been someone associated with Raj Thakre in the past.
25:47I want to get each of you to respond to this.
25:50I want to, before I come, I want to come to you Smriti Kopikar first.
25:54Because you've seen Mumbai over the years.
25:56Is this again Raj Thakre or the Thakres using this Marathi Manu's card to unite themselves ahead of a big election?
26:04Is this pure politics or is this about preserving Marathi culture?
26:08Raj Deeb mi surwa tila yodhats banen taapman taapavla zaat ahe.
26:16That is what it is.
26:17The atmosphere is being polarized, heated up, whatever the compulsions, whatever the motives.
26:25We have to understand that this is a manufactured controversy.
26:29controversy. This has been done with an intent on whatever that goal might be. It might be the
26:36elections, local body elections that are coming up now, or it may be a much bigger game plan
26:42to diminish Maharashtra, to diminish Marathi on the one hand. And this narrative has happened
26:51over a period of time, over the last few years. And therefore, when the language Rao heats up
27:00in Maharashtra, it cannot be, and it should not be seen in isolation. It is not just the anger and
27:06the ire, which to the surprise of many of us did not come only from the Shiv Sena or the Maharashtra
27:13Namdhir Maan Sena, which for them, this is a plank. And that's the plank that the Shiv Sena was born on
27:19in June of 1966. But this comes on the back of a number of decisions, like moving investment away
27:31from Maharashtra, for example, you know, linking certain major projects, or railway lines from
27:39Maharashtra to Gujarat, for example. And so the public sentiment, as I get it, is about,
27:46is the centre out to diminish Maharashtra, and is therefore using Hindi as a tool to diminish Marathi
27:57language. I think that is where that sentiment comes from. And as I said, Rajdeep, it's worth noting
28:04that the opposition or the resistance to Marathi did not come only from the political parties from
28:12April 16, 17, from the time the first GR was issued, about making Hindi mandatory from class one to five.
28:22A number, a huge range of people have become active from intellectuals, poets, writers, literatures,
28:32theatre people, film people, people who work on Marathi language, so linguists, a whole range of them.
28:41It's possible that the news outside Maharashtra has not captured all of this, this entire range.
28:49But the resistance has been across the board. The Shiv Sena and the MNS have articulated that resistance
28:57in a way that news channels and newspapers would pick it up. And fair enough, that's their plank.
29:04They've done it. Should they do it this way? Of course not. I mean, violence is not going to serve any issue.
29:10And just as the BJP government has very selectively, sneakily brought in these two GRs,
29:17the opposition or the resistance has also been rather selective.
29:22They've gone after the shopkeepers and, you know, the aamadmi on the street saying,
29:28Smiti, let me stop you. Smiti, let me stop you. I've heard you.
29:33Let me finish. They've not gone against the upper class migrants. They've not gone against the children.
29:39They've not gone and asked the children of wealthy Mumbai cars this question.
29:43Tula Marathi bolta ye takha. They've not, because they don't, they dare not do it.
29:49Okay. Sushi Ben Shah, there is a lot in what Smiti Kopikar says that you need to respond to.
29:54Primarily, it is being suggested that this has been boiling for a point.
30:00The manner in which leaders come to Maharashtra and say, we are taking investments away to Gujarat.
30:04There is a sense that the Marathi Manus may well be feeling that he or she is not in control of the destiny of his city or her city and the state.
30:16And along comes the Thakres to capitalize on it.
30:19There existed a fertile ground and Eknath Shinde, having allied to the BJP, was in no position to challenge the BJP.
30:26The Thakres have taken up the challenge, possibly for pure politics.
30:29But at the end of the day, it's always been about politics.
30:33Good evening, Mr. Sardesai. It's always a pleasure to be on your show.
30:37Now, let me start by what, to debat to what Priyanka Chaturvedi said.
30:42You know, I was really shocked, aghast and amused by the kind of brazen, half-lies, half-truth that she propagated.
30:49It was us, when Eknath Raoji Shinde, our Mukhyaneta, was the CM, that we got the classical language stated,
30:56Abhijat Bhashacha Darja. It was them who ensured that all the Marathi-speaking people go out of Mumbai.
31:06Housing was shifted outside Mumbai. It was when our Eknath Raoji Shinde was the urban development minister,
31:12minister of housing, that Abhudai Nagar, Ramabai Nagar was started.
31:17People are got back. It is them who was doing the corporation, that all the Marathis...
31:23Is it not true that when Eknath Shinde was chief minister, major projects were taken away from Maharashtra to Gujarat?
31:28Absolutely not. We are today the largest, we are the largest, since the Mahayuti government is gone,
31:36we are the largest income tax player, the GST player, number one in financial position, number one in financial institutions.
31:45That existed before as well.
31:46No, not number one. You see the GST collection, Mr. Sardesai. We are at, we are, I'll just tell you exact number.
31:55What does that have to do with Marathi Asmita? They are saying that the notion of Maharashtra pride in some way has been undermined.
32:03No, I'll tell you this. Shiv Sena stands for the Marathi people, the Marathi language and the culture of Marathi people.
32:11You have travelled across Maharashtra on the election on my plate, the show which I just love.
32:17And you've seen that Maharashtra is all about Shahu, Phule, Ambedkar.
32:21We've imbibed with the blessings of Maharashtra.
32:23But this political party, the so-called Medhava they had, was not about MM, Marathi Manus, but it was PP, Parivar Pratham.
32:32They have no agenda. They have no agenda.
32:35So this is the only thing that they are hanging on to.
32:39Trust me, trust me, trust me, Mr. Sardesai.
32:42When you ask Priyanka, I'm in Marathi, I'm in Mumbai, but I'm not Gujarati.
32:48But my son is Annapurna. My son is in Marathi, and I'm in Marathi.
32:51And I'm not saying that.
32:52I'm in Marathi, and I'm not saying that.
32:56Mr. Sardesai, you must speak.
32:57Good to hear you, good to hear you, Sushi Ben Shah speaking in Marathi.
33:01My son is very sad.
33:02Absolutely.
33:04But my son is Gujarati, and that's India.
33:06That's India, where you can speak multiple languages.
33:08Let me take that to you, Bharat Dabolka.
33:10Bharat Dabolka, you see.
33:11It's all very well to say Hindi is being imposed.
33:14You yourself well know, Mumbai has always had Hindi being spoken at the street level.
33:20Bombay ya Hindi, call it what you will.
33:21Suddenly, the Shiv Sena MNS believes Hindi is being imposed on the people of Mumbai.
33:26All of this seems as pure politics to an outsider.
33:29In any case, violence or gundaism is unacceptable in the name of language.
33:35I tell you, Rajdeep, I have been very close to Barasar Thakre.
33:38I am very close to Uddhar Thakre and Raj Thakre.
33:40I have shared many platforms with them.
33:43But I am a true blue Maharashtrian.
33:45I have done my entire schooling in Marathi from Montessori to SSE exams.
33:49I only spoke a little bit English from my 8th standard.
33:53But I will tell you one thing.
33:54This whole issue, everybody, maybe for political reasons, is complicating it beyond what it should be doing.
33:59A person speaks a second language away from the mother tongue or the local language because it's a necessity for them to speak that language.
34:09I'll give you an example.
34:10I have had an agency in Tanzania, advertising agency, for 14 years.
34:14I have had Maharashtrian art directors with their families staying in Tanzania.
34:18Now, my art director's wife only speaks Marathi.
34:22Her cook who comes is a Tanzanian.
34:24She can't speak Marathi.
34:25She can't speak English.
34:27She only speaks Swahili.
34:28So, if my art director's wife has to give her instructions about how much food to cook, she has to learn basic Swahili to communicate that with her.
34:37If she has to talk to the driver, the driver speaks Swahili and English.
34:41She can't speak Swahili or English.
34:43Yeah, but you can't make it mandatory.
34:44That's organic.
34:45You see, because of job necessities, you can't force it on people.
34:49The worry is you're forcing it on people.
34:50When it is necessary, Rajdeep, people pick up that language, at least the kinds of language or the kinds of sentences they need to learn, because it's a necessity for survival.
35:01In Mumbai, unfortunately, we are such a cosmopolitan city that a man who comes from outside, his servant is not Maharashtrian, his dhobi is not Maharashtrian, his bhelwala is not Maharashtrian, his bhajiwala is not.
35:13So, he is not required to speak Marathi.
35:15The problem is not whether Marathi pride or Hindi pride.
35:18Is he required to learn that language for living in this society and he is not in Mumbai?
35:23In Tamil Nadu, he has to speak Tamil to exist.
35:26In West Bengal, he has to learn Bengali to exist.
35:29Here, a man from outside can happily carry on for 25 years without speaking a single word in Marathi.
35:35I am a proud Maharashtrian.
35:36As I said, I'm the only one on this panel who studied Marathi and nothing else.
35:40But I speak Gujarati.
35:41I read and write Gujarati.
35:42I act in a Gujarati play.
35:43I speak Bengali.
35:45I speak a stuttering of Tamil.
35:46I speak Hindi.
35:47I am not saying that is my hobby.
35:49That is my passion.
35:51But unless I was forced, why would I learn a new language?
35:55You know, I wish we could widen this and maybe this Friday we will do this as a roundtable and get some of you on it.
36:01I am going to get both of you 30 seconds each starting with you, Sushi Benj Shah.
36:05Sushi Benj Shah, you want to respond to this.
36:07Is that there should also be, you will agree, you cannot impose a language on children in class 1.
36:13Leave that again optional.
36:14Let it be organic.
36:15You cannot impose it.
36:17Agreed or not?
36:17No, no.
36:18No, no.
36:18The limited point here is, I welcome it.
36:24And I also, this is what true spirit of India is.
36:28But I would like to tell you this, the duplicity.
36:30UBT, UBATA is forcing Marathi language.
36:34Their own MP, own MP can't speak the language.
36:39I mean, I am aghast.
36:40And they don't, we as Shiv Sen are very clear.
36:43You can't humiliate the Marathi language or Marathi people.
36:47You will pay a price.
36:48But we don't take law on their own hands.
36:50Did Priyanka Chaturvedi condemn Manse?
36:54No, they don't have the guts.
36:56Because that is the only thing.
36:58Okay, your point is taken, Sushi Benj.
37:00Your point is taken.
37:01As I said, I wish I had more time.
37:03I want to give Smriti just 30 seconds.
37:06Smriti, copy just 30 seconds.
37:07Is this language now, you think, going to escalate further?
37:11It could escalate further.
37:13And I think we need to be seeing it in its totality.
37:17Not just about the MNS and Shiv Sena coming down in the only manner they know with violence against people or the common people who can't speak Marathi.
37:28The genesis of this started with imposition of Hindi, making Hindi mandatory from class 1 to 5 in schools across Maharashtra.
37:40Please note that Hindi has always been taught in schools in Maharashtra.
37:44I passed out of class 10 SSC with Hindi as my second language.
37:50So, it's not that Hindi was not being taught in schools.
37:54The mandatory nature of that circular, of that GR, is what has sparked off the whole thing.
38:02And then when there was resistance, just a minute Rajiv, when there was resistance, there was a second GR that tried to sneak in the Hindi.
38:12So, what is this?
38:13I think the opposition is not to Hindi, but to the imposition and the sneaking in of Hindi.
38:19I have completely run out of time.
38:22As I said, we will widen this debate.
38:24We will do a full hour-long show on language, not just Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, all the states.
38:29But I thank you, my guests, for joining me.
38:32It's a fascinating subject.
38:34To what extent can language be taught organically or grown organically?
38:37Or does it have to be imposed from the top?
38:40Is uniformity really what India wants or diversity when it comes to language?
38:45Okay, let's turn from there to the national capital, where the big story is days after the Delhi government rolled back a ban on sale of fuel to banned vehicles,
38:54the Commission for Air Quality Management on Tuesday decided to widen the ban to cover the entire national capital region.
39:01The ban will take effect on November 1st.
39:04What it means is that diesel cars, which are 10 years old, will go off the streets, as per the government, and 15 years for petrol cars.
39:13But there are so many policy flip-flops that car owners are left disappointed.
39:19Take a look.
39:28Banned or not banned, or somewhere in limbo.
39:32Delhi's flip-flops over its end-of-life policy for vehicles has left many citizens confused, cheated, and financially burdened.
39:42Including this man, who had to sell his 88 lakh rupee Mercedes for the price of a second-hand hatchback.
39:50In 2010, Kamaljit Singh Saini bought a top-of-the-line Mercedes, a gift that matched his father's dream and the family's pride.
39:58But 14 years later, that same car was sold for just Rs. 7.5 lakh.
40:04Not because it was faulty or polluting, but because of Delhi's blanket ban on diesel vehicles over 10 years old.
40:11The車 is sold for both cars.
40:12The car was sold for Tesla.
40:13The car was sold for Tesla.
40:13It was sold for Tesla.
40:14And then there's Sanjay Gupta from Model Town.
40:44who bought a diesel I-20 in 2015 for Rs 8.8 lakh, paying Rs 77,000 in road tax.
40:52He had assumed the car had a 15-year life.
40:54But two years later, the NGT reduced diesel car lifespans in Delhi to 10 years.
41:00Fearing that his car would be scrapped, Sanjay sold it in November 2024,
41:04only to get a fresh registration certificate from the transport department
41:08a month later, saying his car was valid till 2030.
41:12The confusion runs deeper.
41:14After the Delhi government rolled back its end-of-life vehicle policy,
41:18people whose cars were already impounded started asking,
41:21will we get them back?
41:23This is what the Delhi government had to say.
41:25This is what the Delhi government had to say.
41:37This is what the Delhi government had to say.
41:51But most importantly, the rollback only affects the fuel-based end-of-life clause,
42:07not the court-mandated CQM directives, which means even today, diesel automobiles older than 10 years
42:27and petrol ones older than 15 years remain illegal on Delhi's roads.
42:35These cars can't run.
42:37These cars are our Vahan portal.
42:41According to Vahan portal, these cars are expired.
42:45And expired cars are no registration.
42:47No registration means 192 section penalty, which is 10,000 minimum starting.
42:55And it is for two-wheeler as well as for the four-wheeler, same.
42:59Policies that shift without clarity.
43:02Vehicle owners caught between rules and reversals.
43:05And crore's worth of cars sold for scrap.
43:08For Delhi's motorists, the road to compliance has become an expensive and emotional ride.
43:14Bureau Report, India Today.
43:16So does the ban on old cars reduce pollution as is now being claimed?
43:25Old vehicle ban, should there be a rethink?
43:28Why is the ban limited to Delhi and its suburbs?
43:30Should it be a national ban, if at all?
43:32I'm joined by two guests for quick comments because we are short on time tonight.
43:37Anumita Roychaudhli is Executive Director, Centre for Science and Environment.
43:40Focuses a lot on traffic.
43:42Chetan Bhutani is Associate Editor of Business Today.
43:44Also looks at the auto industry closely.
43:47But first you, Anumita, how do you interpret this?
43:50We've seen so many flip-flops.
43:52The government says first we are not going to allow fuel to be given to cars that are old beyond 10 and 15 years.
43:57Then it's forced to reverse it.
43:59Now it's saying November 1st is the new deadline.
44:02Are these flip-flops if you can hear us?
44:06Okay, before Anumita apparently can't hear us.
44:10Why don't you take that Chetan, explain to us why are these old cars far more polluting than a swanky new diesel or petrol car?
44:20Well, Rajdeep you know correctly pointed out these old cars are really contributing to about 28% of the entire PM 2.5 levels in Delhi.
44:29The major contributors to the pollution in Delhi constitute about 30% coming from industries.
44:35Construction dust from 17%, road dust 15%, biomass burning 7% and domestic sources 3%.
44:41And this is a report I'm quoting from the Terry ARI report.
44:44Well, the main reason for these polluting is of course the commercial vehicle fleets that need to be weeded out first.
44:51However, after the public output, I remember, Rajdeep, we were hearing the agreed consumers
44:56because the road tax that they paid was for 15 years, whereas their vehicle was weeded out after 10 years.
45:02So, a big financial burden came out to those consumers as well because not everybody is in a position to financially pay out a 10-year-old car
45:09and eventually buy a new car or a second-hand car for themselves since a car is of a very valuable asset in Indian household society.
45:17But to answer your question, Rajdeep, are old vehicles dirtier?
45:20A BS1 diesel vehicle, which is a pre-2005 vehicle,
45:24emits 28 to 30 times more of a PM2.5 versus a BS6 vehicle which we currently drive on Indian roads.
45:31So, to answer your question, Rajdeep, yes, older vehicles do emit, you know, pollution.
45:36But yes, there are a lot of policy flip-flops that the central government, the state government and the consumers have to be dealt with.
45:43Let me take those policy flip-flops.
45:46Anumita Rohit Choudhury, your quick comment.
45:48Do you believe that it's necessary to phase out all old cars by law, by diktat in the manner now that the government intends to do come November 1st?
45:58No, Rajdeep.
45:59So, while I believe that older vehicles need to be addressed for fleet renewal
46:05so that you can replace very old and end-of-life vehicles with new, clean and zero-emission vehicles,
46:12but the method has to be different.
46:15The sweeping ban, age-based ban, blanket ban is not going to work at all.
46:21So, we already know and there are systems that you need to identify the most polluting end-of-life vehicles
46:29and then weed them out.
46:31And therefore, the whole system needs to be based on merit of emission performance and fitness
46:37and wherever needed, selective ban along with incentives.
46:42That has to be the strategy.
46:44So, while we...
46:45So, you're saying...
46:46Are you saying you can't have a fixed age that 10-year-old cars, 10-year-old diesel will be beaded out, 15-year-old?
46:52You're saying case-by-case basis?
46:54How will the government be able to do that?
46:56Yes.
46:57For instance, for commercial vehicles already, Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has already notified the rule
47:04that the commercial vehicles will have to undergo mandatory testing in automated testing stations
47:11that are being set up across the country and also have been set up in Delhi.
47:16And there, they should identify, based on those tests, what are those end-of-life and unfit vehicles.
47:23But yes, the criteria for defining end-of-life for private vehicles is still not that clear.
47:30And we need those systems.
47:32But then, also remember that it's just not taking the vehicles only to the testing stations.
47:38The Supreme Court in 2018 had already directed the Delhi government and the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways
47:46to institute the system of remote sensing monitoring, which goes beyond the current PUC test,
47:53which means you don't have to take your car somewhere to get it tested.
47:58But as you are driving on the road, the machines by the roadside will monitor you,
48:02and those pilots have already happened in Delhi.
48:05But now, rules have to be notified for doing that.
48:08So, a lot of smart people...
48:10But ma'am, that's...
48:11You know, the worry is that...
48:13What...
48:14Car drivers are worried is that they will get caught in a near bureaucratic maze.
48:18What happened a week or so ago, cars were being impounded,
48:21and fuel was being denied to those with old cars.
48:26Now, can you do it by diktat in that manner?
48:28Is that the way forward?
48:29That's...
48:30That's not feasible with such large number of vehicles.
48:34And also, technically, it is also not even advisable that you cannot continuously keep taking 10-year-old,
48:4315-year-old out from Delhi, Gurgaon, Paritabad, Ghaziabad, and dump them in other regions.
48:49So, you have to find other ways.
48:51And we know from the evidence that it is not all vehicles.
48:55It is the selected vehicles which contribute disproportionately to the high pollution.
49:01So, now, see, when you do not have a system in place, then ban remains your only weapon to address the problem.
49:09But not in this age, not in Delhi.
49:12When we have the rules, we have the system.
49:14The state-of-the-art testing stations have already been set up in Delhi.
49:18Pilots on remote sensing have happened.
49:20Why can't we go for smart...
49:23One is the smart...
49:24So, would you say, in conclusion, annual testing of every vehicle being made mandatory, annual testing.
49:29You pass the test, you can carry on with the car.
49:31You don't.
49:32That's it.
49:33Especially after a certain age.
49:36Then you make the test more frequent.
49:38Also, do a lot more on-road emission monitoring.
49:41But more important, you should also have a disclosure policy on the way the vehicles have been tested and their results.
49:48Otherwise, you may do tests and then through the continuous process of retest, you end up passing almost all vehicles.
49:56The system also has to work.
49:58So, systems, smart monitoring, transparency, digitization and disclosure.
50:03That has to be the way for it.
50:05Anumita Raj Chaudhary, for joining us there.
50:07I hope someone in the Delhi government is listening.
50:09All these flip-flops have only, in a way, undermined public confidence in the system.
50:15Chetan and Anumita, appreciate you joining me.
50:18It's been a tough few days for the people of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
50:21Flash floods and line slide have resulted in widespread destruction in Mandi and several parts of Mandi.
50:27of the state of Himachal.
50:29Over 80 people have died so far with Mandi the worst hit.
50:33Our ground report today is from Mandi.
50:36Submerged roads, damaged homes and over 70 deaths.
50:48Incessant trains have wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh.
50:55From water-locked roads to uprooted trees and overflowing rivers, chaos grips multiple districts.
51:03Over 240 roads remain blocked and 278 power transformers are down, plunging many areas into darkness.
51:14We are at main market which has seen the major disaster, major impact.
51:19And this is the HP State's cooperative bank.
51:22And you see even the shops, homes, residential area here, including the market, is totally damaged.
51:29This is the situation in each and every shop and home here in Thunag.
51:37Mandi has taken the worst hit, with extensive damage to homes and infrastructure.
51:44Displaced families are spending nights in relief camps or sheltering with relatives.
51:51Displaced families are spending nights in relief camps.
52:04Displaced families are spending nights in relief camps or sheltering with relatives.
52:09Displaced families are spending nights in relief camps.
52:34In a rare piece of good news, a dog's timely bark helped 67 people escape just before floodwaters hit a village in Mandi.
52:47Rescue teams from the NDRF, SDRF, Army, ITBP and Home Guards are racing against time to find the missing and deliver aid.
52:58Twenty teams have been deployed to deliver Russian and medical kits in remote, cut-off regions.
53:05In Namachal Pradesh, there have been a lot of rain.
53:10And in the rain, there have been a lot of rain.
53:13And in the rain, there have been a lot of rain.
53:15And there have been a lot of rain.
53:18With more rain expected, the Med Department has issued a red alert for Kangla, Mandi and Sirmore districts.
53:27Bureau Report, India Today.
53:30It has become a tragic annual feature, these flash floods in Himachal Pradesh.
53:37I want to leave you with our image of the day tonight.
53:41It's of a Kerala forest officer being widely praised after a video of her rescuing a 16-foot long king cobra went viral.
53:51That's right, the dramatic rescue captured on camp shows beet forest officer G.S. Roshni calmly and skillfully capturing the venomous snake from a screen frequently used by locals for bathing.
54:05That's right, she's quite a cobra catcher.
54:08And it is quite an image.
54:10Happens, I think, only in India.
54:13Thanks for watching.
54:14Stay well, stay safe.
54:15Good night, Shubratri.
54:17Kya hin, namaskar.
54:19Stay away from snakes.
54:21Real and not so real.
54:23Bye for now.