October 23, 2025 • 30 mins
First, The Indian Express’ Asad Rehman talks about the Mahagathbandhan which is in disarray just days ahead of polling. With infighting on at least 12 seats and a delayed CM announcement, the alliance’s cohesion is under serious question.
Next, The Indian Express' Ritika Chopra discusses a new government scheme to attract Indian-origin faculty settled abroad amid a global talent race. (18:20)
And finally, we report on an SIT investigation in Karnataka’s Aland constituency that has uncovered a voter deletion scam ahead of the 2023 state elections. (27:55)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Written and produced by Shashank BHargava and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Next, The Indian Express' Ritika Chopra discusses a new government scheme to attract Indian-origin faculty settled abroad amid a global talent race. (18:20)
And finally, we report on an SIT investigation in Karnataka’s Aland constituency that has uncovered a voter deletion scam ahead of the 2023 state elections. (27:55)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Written and produced by Shashank BHargava and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In this episode, we talk about India's new plan to
retain top Indian origin scientists from the US. We also
take a look at how Karnataka's sit uncovered that voted
deletions in a constituency were literally being paid for. But
we begin today with Bihar, where the Mahagadbandan Alliance is
struggling to hold itself together ahead of the pots Hi.
(00:27):
I'm a Chasharma and you're listening to three things the
Indian Express new show. The Mahagad Bandhan Alliance in Bihar,
comprising the Rashtra Jhantadal, the Indian National Congress and left
parties such as the CPIM, has been facing serious infighting
(00:47):
this election season. Candidates from these parties are contesting against
each other on at least twelve seats, and with just
days left before polling begins, the alliance is yet to
finalize its seat sharing arrangement. In fact, it was only
yesterday that the alliance announced RJD's Theyjusa Yadav as its
Chief ministraal candidate, a decision the Congress had been hesitant
(01:09):
to endorse until now. To understand what's driving these internal
conflicts and how they could affect the alliance's prospects. Michaelik
Shahan Bhargav speaks to the Indian Expresses asadrahaman I said.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
They are only two weeks now before the polls begin
and the Mahagad Bandan has only just announced their CM candidate.
And we know that there is a lot of infighting,
there is a lot of discord. But tell us why
they delay in this announcement because they just be in
that sense, seems like an obvious choice for them.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
So in the last week or ten days, the India
Block allies called the Mahagad Bandon in Bihar have had
some major internal rumblings within the allies. Now the Congress
high command, the Congress top leadership, in the last few
days has felt that name Tejas who comes from the
Yadhav community is going to have a counter productive effect
(02:06):
on the alliances performance in Bihar.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Now why is that?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
The Congress's apprehension is also fueled by the fact that
there is a general feeling in Bihar up and in
the Northern Indian Beld that Yadavs are a community who
are associated with Jungle Raj, who are associated with Gundagardi
and up.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Now this is just a perception.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I'm not saying that the community is responsible for this
or not, but this is a perception that political parties
have been a bit vary of. Now, the fear of
the Congress was that naming a YadA as the chief
minister face is going to consolidate the non YadA Obisi vote. Now,
this happened in Haryana and it was a big defeat
for the Congress, and a defeat which the Congress didn't see.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Coming at all.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Now, this was one of the main apprehensions that the
Congress had that this non yadav Obisi vote will be
consolidated in favor of the JDU, the BJP and the
larger NDA bloc. Now, this is the reason that the
Congress leaders have been citing to me, to other people
in conversations which are not on record.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
The Congress is also saying.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
That it has a rule that it never goes with
the chief minister face in an election and after an election,
the MLAs who are elected, they will select their leader
and will make whoever they want as the chief minister
once they.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
Do win the election.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Now that rule is something that the Congress has been citing.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
But if you look at Bihar.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
The counter to this from the RGD side is that
the RGED is saying that we are contesting one hundred
and forty three seats. The Congress is contesting sixty one seats.
The smaller allies are contesting twenty, some are contesting four
or five. So the rged's counter to this is that
if in Bihar we do win, they are going to
have the maximum number of allies. If they are in
(03:53):
a position to win and form the government in Behar.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Right, they will be the bigger alliance partner. So it's
very unlikely that a Congress leader will become the chief minister.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Now this is also something that Tejaswi's party RJD was
unhappy with, which reflected in the way candidates were announced.
We are just days away from the election and the
India Alliance India Block in Bihard, the Mahgadwandhan has still
not finalized a seat sharing formula. All the parties have
unilaterally announced their candidates. RGD's announced one forty three, Congresses
(04:28):
announced sixty one, but there is no coordination in that.
This lack of coordination was also because just we and
the RJED was not happy with Rahul Gandhi and the
Congress not endorsing him as the future Chief Minister of
Bihar if they do with so. This was one of
the reasons why the seat sharing talks were so chaotic
complicated and saw certain statements being made from the Congress
(04:53):
against the RJD.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
The RJD against the Congress. Now, one of the.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Things that we reported was that the Congress State President
mister Raj Shram that his seat Kutumba will also.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
See an RJD candidate surash past One.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Now that has been withdrawn, but it was a way
to leverage more from the Congress by saying, Okay, if
you're not going to do what we are asking you
to do, we are going to field a candidate against
your top leader who's the state president of your party
hails from Adealit community on the Kutumba seat. We spoke
to surash pass One and he told us on record
(05:29):
that he's going to contest the Kutumba seat. If you
look at there are other seats also. There are other
examples also where it's become somewhat of an ego tussle
between the RJD and the Congress and also the left parties,
the CPI in particular, and that's the reason that there's
been this delay, this lag in the seat sharing announcement,
(05:49):
in endorsing the just Viatherwise, the Chief Minister face going
into the elections, and let's not forget that we just
days away from the elections in behave.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
And talk about the reason why this is happening. Because
this is in sharp contrast to the ND alliance right
because their seed sharing was announced much earlier. It's very straightforward,
the JDU and the BJPR actually contesting on an equal
number of seats. And on the other hand, you have
the Mahagadbandan where people will be contesting against each other.
(06:20):
It's the twenty third and they have not even announced
their set sharing arrangement and you've had leaders publicly speaking
out against each other. So what is the reason you
think this is happening?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
So I'll give one seat as an example.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
So the seat Bachhwara had seen a CPI candidate last
time lose by less than two hundred votes. So cpis
Adi Shrai had lost the seat by less than two
hundred votes in the twenty twenty elections, and there was
an independent candidate who had contested that election. His name
is Chif Prakash Gariddas. Now he is the son of
a former EMLA who's no more. And now the Congress
(06:58):
is despite the CPI having lost by less than two
hundred votes, the Congress wanted that seat and now we
are going to see a Congress versus CPI fight on
that seat, which is Bashwaa. So you know, this seat
is an example about how the allies have not been
on the same page in terms of seat sharing. The
(07:18):
Congress was insisting that we are going to field Garibdas
on this seat no matter what CPI's argument was. We
lost the election by less than two hundred votes, so
we deserve to contest the seat. This has been our
seat and we were promised the same seats again.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Now the end.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Result of this is that we are going to see
a CPI versus Congress versus NBA fight on this seat.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Right And the other thing you've written about is that
a lot of this is happening because of ego tussles.
And in that regard, the one person who has been
blamed a lot is the Bihar in charge for Congress,
Krishna Alavaru. Talk about who he is and what are
the allegations against him.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
So a Lavaru is a native person from Andhra and
he has worked very hard in br He's also ensured
that very few dynasts get seats this time.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Tickets this time is on behalf of the Congress.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
He's preferred to give tickets to people, give preference to
people who worked hard on the ground. In the last
few months now, the seat sharing talks between mister Alavaru
and TIJESVII and Lalu have also been installed because of
some ego battles. One example was that one leader who
was part of the conversations told me that there was
one day when Alaaru made they just we wait for
(08:34):
an hour and a half on stage. The next time
when they were supposed to share a stage, they just
be returned the favor and was two and a half
hours late. So these sort of small things have also
resulted in the delay in talks. And of course, and
let's not forget that Weather is a former Deputy Chief
Minister of Bihar. His father has been a CM in
Bihar on multiple occasions. He has the largest party in
(08:55):
Bihar in the opposition camp. The Congress, on the other hand,
keeps playing its credentials that you know, we are a
national party and that we deserve more respect in a
state like Bihar and we want to expand our footprint now.
Once the ticket distribution announcements started happening, there was also
talk within the Congress of internal sabotage. One person who
was seeking a ticket is not being given a ticket.
(09:17):
Of the record, he's telling us that, oh, I'm going
to sabotage the other person's election. Whether that happens is
something we have to wait and watch because maybe the
High Commands step since talks to people placates them, fixes
the issues. But for now, the Congress is a very
divided ship in Bihar. At this point, there were allegations
against mister Krishna Lavaru, against the state President Raji Shram,
(09:39):
Congress Legislative Party leader in Shaki Leh Mahdan. All three
of them were also attacked. Some workers of a candidate
who were seeking a ticket attacked the three at Patnai
Airport last week. So there have been these larger issues
and the main issue, the main bone of contention between
the RGD and the Congress was that the our j
(10:00):
wanted just to be the cmface in br the Congress
was not agreeing.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Something that has been sorted out.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
On Thursday morning, Asho Gelot and India Bloc, all the
allies sat down for a press conference said Asho Galotannos
that we endorsed they just be as the Chief Minister
face for our alliance. And Mukeshtani who's from the Vikashi
Insan Parti who heads the party. He's a non YadA
Obsi leader to be the deputy cmface.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Right and even besides ego clashes, the other thing that
has become a problem is the Bihar cast survey. Talk
about why that has become a bone of contention now So.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
During the voter arikariatra Raoul Gandhi consistently criticized the Bihar
Cast survey. Now other was pitching the Bihar cast survey
as something of an achievement for him. That it was
while he was Deputy Chief Minister. He got the cast
survey done, he got the numbers out, but then Niji
left and joined the NBA and he couldn't fulfill what
(10:58):
he had thought he would.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Now.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Congress on the other hand, and Rahul Gandhi on the
other hand, has been consistently criticizing the Biharkas survey. So
that's also a conflict between the RGD and the Congress.
If you look at it that there is a conflict
between the two allies on the cast survey.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Also one is.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Pitching it as his main achievement and the other is
saying that that cast survey was bogus, it was not
done well. Like the Telangana cast survey is the one
that has to be emulated and has to be taken forward.
But the Biharkas survey has been criticized by Raoul Gandhi
and the Congress.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
So that was also an issue.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
I don't know if it's been resolved, if there's been
a conversation on this, we'll find out in the next
few days. But that was also something where the two
allies were not being able to see I T I
in terms of like narrative on the ground.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
And you know, at least.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
When it comes to the chief ministerial face Congresses, Tans,
especially as a minority Alliance partner, seems so odd because
they justly is perhaps the most prominent leader in Bihar
afternith Ish. So talk about what this says about Congress's
mindset and what has been the Congress's performance in Bihar
(12:03):
in the past, Because in twenty twenty, while RJD had
won sixty five seats, Congress had won only nineteen.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So the twenty twenty elections were really bad for the Congress.
And the Congress described the narrative they built and mister
Alavaru has also furthered. This narrative is that in twenty twenty,
we were given very bad seats. Now, how do they
describe bad seats. They say that seats where the cast
combination or the community vice combination does not favor an
opposition alliance, it favors the BJP. So, for example, if
(12:36):
there is a seat where there is a high number
of Brahmins or Boomiyas and they form a decisive vote
bank on that seat, so if the Congress is given
that seat, they're going to lose it.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
So their explanation for their low strike.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Rate in twenty twenty was that we were given bad
seats as comparatively, we are going to get better and
winnable seats.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
They're calling it winnable seats.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
So that is one of the arguments that last time
the Allies gave us very bad seats. This time, we're
going to get better seats, even though closer look at
the candidate list there are only three four seats which
they've been able to take from the RGED and that
to their seats where the BJP hasn't lost for a
long long time. I think there are two seats where
the BJP hasn't lost since two thousand and one seat
(13:18):
where the BJPJDU hasn't lost since two thousand and five.
But the Congress is reasoning logic mostly revolves around the
fact that we are a national party. We can test
all the elections, we can test in all the states. Now,
one leader I was talking from the Congress. He was
pointing out something which I found quite interesting that in
twenty twenty seven there is going to be an election
in up Akil. Shadev is going to be the Chief
(13:39):
Minister face no matter what. His party is the third
largest party in parliament right now in the Luksova, so
there is no doubt in that there the Congress will
have to concede to have him as the Chief Minister face,
and Raoul Sandi will also have to go there, and
whoever the congress top brass will also have to go there.
And endorse him as the Chief Minister face, then why
not do it in Birol? So when you're going to
do it in Up, then why not do it in Bihar.
(14:00):
Al So, if your ally is so struck up on
that and you had to eventually concede to it, only right.
You could have done this two months ago, three months ago,
four months ago, even during the yaptra, you could have
from stage Raoul Gandi could have said that he is
a future Chief minister.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Didn't do that.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Now on Thursday, after all this complication, after all this chaos,
they've come back and have conceded to the rged's demand
that Okay, just the other is the Chief Minister face,
he's going to be a Chief Minister candidate for the elections.
So I don't understand this delay. The Congress leadership also
does not understand this delay. I mean the people I've
spoken to over the last few days in Bihar, in
Delhi who've been involved in this CEC, which is the
(14:36):
Central Election Committee of the Congress, then the Screening Committee
in Bihar, they're also not sure why this has happened,
why this delay is there, And now it's almost like
you know, you've delayed something so far along the election
and now you finally conceded to it and you've done
what the RGED was asking you to do for the
last six months.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
And this obviously raises a lot of questions regarding Congress's leadership.
In fact, even during this press conference where they announced
they just be as the CM candidate Rahul Gandhi was
missing from the event. So tell us where does he
fit into all this and what do leaders within the
Congress say the central leadership could have done to avoid
(15:15):
all this mess.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
You know, in the last few days, if you look
at how Prime ministerin Remodi and Raoul Gandhi have been
setting the agenda for br mister Gandhi still hasn't visited
Bihar since his voter at the Kariyatra which was in August,
and elections.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Are just days away now.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
The PM is already kickstarting his campaign very soon and
we've got details of that.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Raul Gandhi will also do it eventually at some point.
But for an.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Opposition leader for a party which is in the opposition,
I think the campaign should have been more aggressive compared
to the NDA which is in power.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
But it looks like it's the opposite.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
And there has been a lot of blame on the
central leadership also. So for example, I was talking to
one leader from Bihar who was saying that you know,
this is a regular thing in an election. There will
be four, five, three people who are looking to contest
one seat from within a party. I've covered Up's elections
in the past where I've seen Samahadi Party have twelve
candidates for a seat.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
And maybe more.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Also, so there are this friction is bound to happen
in LA election. But it is the central leadership which
sits down with people who don't get tickets, tells them, Okay,
you're not getting a ticket this time, but maybe in
the future we'll accommodate you through an MLC route or
through some other route, will give you a ticket later,
or we'll give you the ticket next time. Maybe just
(16:32):
you know this, placate them, just talk to them, have
a conversation with them, and fix the problems within the
people who are seeking tickets.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
That hasn't happened.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
And just blaming the state leadership, the state president, State
in charge Krishna Lavaru and then the CLP leader mister
Shaki Lamakan seems premature because if something goes wrong, the
buck has to stop with the person who's sitting right
at the top. Where is the high command? Why aren't
they talking to people?
Speaker 4 (16:59):
You know?
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Because if if someone like mister Krishna Lavaru does tell
someone that tomorrow I'm going to give you an MLC ticket,
the person who wanted a ticket and is not getting
it will be like, I'm not sure if you're going
to be behar in charge in the future or not.
But Rahul Gandhi or a Malika Junk they know that
they are part of the leadership of the party where
they're going to make decisions even in the future.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
So that hasn't happened.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
The top leadership has somewhat been absent and Rai still
hasn't hit the ground in Bihar. They just fee his
campaign is also going to start, I think from tomorrow.
The PM's campaign is also starting. But there has been
some lag from the Congress, high command, the top leadership
and which is clear now, which is almost like it's
(17:42):
become so chaoti that the top three leaders of a
state are being attacked by supporters of a person who
was seeking a ticket at the airport. Videos have come
out and there were also rumors that the three top
leaders were you know, in hiding for a few days
and they were getting threat calls. This is where the
high command you know, steps in and maybe gives out
a message to its leaders that are going this is
election time. Let's all be united, let's all fight this election,
(18:04):
and we will figure out things in the future that
I think hasn't happened from the Congress, and I think
that's what has resulted, is in this chaos and these
complications within the allies.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Also, and next we talk about a new government scheme
to bring back Indian origin experts who are currently settled abroad.
At a time when the Trump administration in the US
is placing restrictions on higher education from stricter wesare rules
(18:33):
to what critiques describe as ideological interference in universities, Countries
around the world are rethinking how they retain their brightest minds.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Since Donald Trump has assumed charge as the president of
the United States of America.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
This is the Innian expresses with the Kachopra, who reported
on the story for the paper.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Aside from several other disruptive decisions that he's taken. For
one reason where the Trump administration has been constantly news
is actually the interventions that the Trump administration has made
in the higher education sector which directly challenges university autonomy
and academic freedom. If you remember, you know, the administration
(19:19):
did go after several international students that it felt, you know,
students who were in fact violating their student visa terms
by way of voicing their dissent. Rather what the Trump
administration perceived as anti sentism, So any sort of voice
(19:40):
of dissent in a way was being interpreted as that.
And there were in fact many F one visas that
were revoked, many service records that were terminated as a
result of that. And following that, you know, the Trump
administration also did go after universities it felt that weren't
in fact falling in line. They actually threatened them with
(20:00):
funds cuts. A lot of these decisions are now you know,
they have been challenged in court, but on and off
there have been several run ins between the Trump administration
and the indite universities in the US, so that itself
has created a lot of uncertainty in the academic community.
(20:21):
There uncertainty in terms of the number of international students
that they could take, which of course you know, is
sort of a financial lifeline for several universities in the
US and also you know, just funding of major research projects.
So that's the current state of play in the US.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
And so in the light of this, India is positioning
itself right at the center of the global race for talent.
The government is working on a new scheme to bring
back Indian origion scientists and researchers settled abroad to strengthen
the country's research ecosystem. So to understand what does this
plan involves and what it could mean for the Indian
(21:01):
higher education we speak to Ritaka in the segment, who
starts by explaining what this scheme is and the kind
of faculty the government hopes to attract.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
So what we have learned is that for the last
several months, maybe around March April, the Principal Scientific Advisor's
Office actually roped in the Education Ministry, the Department of
Science and Technology and the Department of Biotechnology and a
bunch of meetings can mean with these departments and essentially
(21:32):
now what the center's planning is a scheme or initiative
which would work towards attracting Indian origin quote unquote staff
faculty and researchers who are settled abroad to come back
and work in Indian institutions. Now, this of course has
been conceived at a time when as I mentioned that,
(21:53):
you know, there is a lot of uncertainty in the
research and academic community in the US, and Indian fact
is sort of it doesn't have the first mover's advantage here.
There are other countries, you know, in Europe, that China,
even Taiwan, they have announced initiatives as part of their
efforts to not just internationalize their high raduation system, but
(22:13):
of course use this as an opportunity to attract solid
talent to their countries. So India is now joining that race,
and it is at this moment as we speak. There
have been many meetings that have been held and they're
trying to draw up the contours of this initiative, something
that is lucrative, something that will in fact attract staff faculty.
(22:34):
Please remember the operative part here is that they're looking
not to bring back Indian origin post dog scholars or
people who just finished their doctorate program. They want people
who have solid work to their credit. So in order
to do that, what is it that the Indian government
can offer which can convince them to spend at least
(22:57):
five years in the country, and they feel that they're
presence and their work in some of our premier institutions
like the IITs. IITs in fact have been part of
these conversations and they are on board. But this would
in fact strength in the country's research and development ecosystem,
and they're willing to oppositions in premier institutions and labs
under the DSD and DBT. So that essentially is a
(23:20):
broad outline of what the government is doing at this moment.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
ANDRETHINKA. We know that this isn't the first time an
initiative like this has been raised by the government, right,
so how is this program different from existing initiatives like
Vajra or Gyan, which also similarly aimed to connect overseas researchers.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
You're right, this is not the first time that the
governments strive to has attempted this. There are programs like GYAN,
which is run by the Education Ministry. There is VURDERRA,
which is Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty program which is
run by the Department of Science and Technology, and all
of these programs are designed to bring foreign faculty to
(24:02):
come spend you know, sort of short stints here in
the country. So here the operative part is that all
of these attempts that have been made aren't really have
been for short term projects. But what is now being
looked at is sort of more full time, longer term appointments,
like I said, sort of a five year stint so
that you know, the faculty is able to actually undertake
(24:24):
some impactful research during that time. So that's essentially the difference,
you know, the time that the government hopes that the
Star faculty would be spending in India, right.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
And so what kind of support or for that matter,
incentives are being discussed for the faculty.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
So we don't have all the details on incentives being discussed,
but we have been told that you know, for instance,
would be to kind of offer them solid set up
crafts to enable them to kind of once they're here,
to establish their laboratories and kind of put together team
immediately so that there is essentially no wake time per se.
(25:04):
That is one thing that we were given a clear
indication of. They would also try and make a renumeration
more lucrative. That's obviously the obvious thing. But another thing
is I think what the government's trying to ensure. I
mean the problems that it has paced in the past, well,
its past attempts at bringing back overseas Indian researchers has
(25:26):
essentially been there. There have been procedural dealis in terms
of permissions that are required from different universities, funding uncertainty,
you know, institutional support. So they don't want any of
these things to turn into annoyances which eventually drive them
back to the country that they came from. So at
this point they are trying to iron that out, sort
(25:49):
of laid down certain things, cast certain things in stones
so that these issues don't come up later because frankly,
these in fact have been hurdles. These are structural hurdles
that Indian has which has kind of you know, prevented
the country from attracting good faculty to India.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
And lastly, with the what are the next steps for
this plan, like when might we see the first set
of faculty return under the scheme.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
So this of course would require you know, because it
requires a significant amount of investment on the goverment's part.
So this would require and from what I understand, the
Cabinet's approval, the Union cabinet's approval once that is. In fact, interestingly,
we're also told that even before that the scheme comes
up a cabinet approval, the government machinery actually has already
(26:36):
started sounding out researchers and scientists of Indian origin based
in the US about this scheme. You know, the word
is kind of out that this scheme would come in
any moment, just in order to I guess, spread awareness,
but more than that, to also gauge interest. From what
I understand, the feeling within the government is that there
is interest, and which is why based on that, they're
(26:58):
kind of going ahead with the scheme. But in terms
of exact timelines, I'm not able to give you that
right now, but I'm told that they are giving finishing
touches to this scheme, that it is likely to come
up for cabinet approval soon, and once it does, I
think they will throw this open for applications soon.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And next we talk about Karnataka, when investigators have uncovered
a major vote fraud operation in the Alum constituency where
they said the right to vote was allegedly being sold
for eighty rupees per deletion. A special investigation team of
the Karnataka Police has found fraudulent voter deletion applications were
(27:42):
systematically filed ahead of the twenty twenty three Karnataka elections.
As reported by The Union Expresses, Johnson ta the ASCIETY
discovered that a data center operated in Kalaburagi was paid
around four point eight lakh rupees to process over six
thousand voter deletion requests between December twenty twenty two and
(28:03):
February twenty twenty three. The case first came to light
when the Election Commission discovered that thousands of names had
been marked for deletion in Ireland. A ground verification later
revealed that only twenty four of the six thousand and
eighteen names met the criteria for deletion, meaning that more
than nineteen nine percent of the applications were false. Johnson
(28:26):
notes that the ASIIT, which took over the investigation last month,
traced the fraudulent operation to a data center run by
two individuals, Mohammada shak and Mohammad Akram. Investigators believed they
used Internet base calls and multiple phone numbers to file
deletion applications through the Election Commission's portal. Ashwak who was
questioned in twenty twenty three and released after promising to
(28:49):
surrender his devices, later moved to the y. In fact,
earlier this month, the SITI conducted searches at properties linked
to the BJP leader Shabhajh Gutar, who had lost the
twenty five twenty three election from Ireland, as well as
his sons and a chartered accountant. Seven laptops, several mobile
phones and other electronic equipment were also seized. Investigators are
(29:11):
now probing the source of the money used to fund
the deletion. The investigation has also revealed that seventy five
mobile numbers were registered on the Election Commission portal for
filing the deletions. The phone numbers were traced to a
range of individuals, including relatives of policemen and workers in
poultry farms. Authorities are looking into how fake credentials were
(29:32):
created to gain access to the election Commission system. Meanwhile,
Gutdar has denied any involvement, claiming that the allegations were
politically motivated and raised by congress MLA B. R. Pattel,
who defeated him in twenty twenty three. Partil, on the
other hand, has accused the BJP of orchestrating the voter
deletions as part of a larger attempt to manipulate electoral outcomes.
(29:56):
Congress leader Pawan Keira also made a statement that the
asciety findings validated Rahul Gandhi's earlier vote story allegations. You
were listening to Three Things by the Indian Express. Today's
show was edited and mixed by Sesh Bavar and produced
by Shishanghgov and me Ichasharma. If you like the show,
(30:17):
do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast. You
can also recommend it to someone you think may like it,
with a friend or in your family. This is the
best way for people to get to know about us.
You can also tweet us at Express podcast or write
to us at podcast at Indian Express dot com.
In this episode, we talk about India's new plan to
retain top Indian origin scientists from the US. We also
take a look at how Karnataka's sit uncovered that voted
deletions in a constituency were literally being paid for. But
we begin today with Bihar, where the Mahagadbandan Alliance is
struggling to hold itself together ahead of the pots Hi.
(00:27):
I'm a Chasharma and you're listening to three things the
Indian Express new show. The Mahagad Bandhan Alliance in Bihar,
comprising the Rashtra Jhantadal, the Indian National Congress and left
parties such as the CPIM, has been facing serious infighting
(00:47):
this election season. Candidates from these parties are contesting against
each other on at least twelve seats, and with just
days left before polling begins, the alliance is yet to
finalize its seat sharing arrangement. In fact, it was only
yesterday that the alliance announced RJD's Theyjusa Yadav as its
Chief ministraal candidate, a decision the Congress had been hesitant
(01:09):
to endorse until now. To understand what's driving these internal
conflicts and how they could affect the alliance's prospects. Michaelik
Shahan Bhargav speaks to the Indian Expresses asadrahaman I said.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
They are only two weeks now before the polls begin
and the Mahagad Bandan has only just announced their CM candidate.
And we know that there is a lot of infighting,
there is a lot of discord. But tell us why
they delay in this announcement because they just be in
that sense, seems like an obvious choice for them.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
So in the last week or ten days, the India
Block allies called the Mahagad Bandon in Bihar have had
some major internal rumblings within the allies. Now the Congress
high command, the Congress top leadership, in the last few
days has felt that name Tejas who comes from the
Yadhav community is going to have a counter productive effect
(02:06):
on the alliances performance in Bihar.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Now why is that?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
The Congress's apprehension is also fueled by the fact that
there is a general feeling in Bihar up and in
the Northern Indian Beld that Yadavs are a community who
are associated with Jungle Raj, who are associated with Gundagardi
and up.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Now this is just a perception.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I'm not saying that the community is responsible for this
or not, but this is a perception that political parties
have been a bit vary of. Now, the fear of
the Congress was that naming a YadA as the chief
minister face is going to consolidate the non YadA Obisi vote. Now,
this happened in Haryana and it was a big defeat
for the Congress, and a defeat which the Congress didn't see.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Coming at all.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Now, this was one of the main apprehensions that the
Congress had that this non yadav Obisi vote will be
consolidated in favor of the JDU, the BJP and the
larger NDA bloc. Now, this is the reason that the
Congress leaders have been citing to me, to other people
in conversations which are not on record.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
The Congress is also saying.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
That it has a rule that it never goes with
the chief minister face in an election and after an election,
the MLAs who are elected, they will select their leader
and will make whoever they want as the chief minister
once they.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
Do win the election.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Now that rule is something that the Congress has been citing.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
But if you look at Bihar.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
The counter to this from the RGD side is that
the RGED is saying that we are contesting one hundred
and forty three seats. The Congress is contesting sixty one seats.
The smaller allies are contesting twenty, some are contesting four
or five. So the rged's counter to this is that
if in Bihar we do win, they are going to
have the maximum number of allies. If they are in
(03:53):
a position to win and form the government in Behar.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Right, they will be the bigger alliance partner. So it's
very unlikely that a Congress leader will become the chief minister.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Now this is also something that Tejaswi's party RJD was
unhappy with, which reflected in the way candidates were announced.
We are just days away from the election and the
India Alliance India Block in Bihard, the Mahgadwandhan has still
not finalized a seat sharing formula. All the parties have
unilaterally announced their candidates. RGD's announced one forty three, Congresses
(04:28):
announced sixty one, but there is no coordination in that.
This lack of coordination was also because just we and
the RJED was not happy with Rahul Gandhi and the
Congress not endorsing him as the future Chief Minister of
Bihar if they do with so. This was one of
the reasons why the seat sharing talks were so chaotic
complicated and saw certain statements being made from the Congress
(04:53):
against the RJD.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
The RJD against the Congress. Now, one of the.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Things that we reported was that the Congress State President
mister Raj Shram that his seat Kutumba will also.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
See an RJD candidate surash past One.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Now that has been withdrawn, but it was a way
to leverage more from the Congress by saying, Okay, if
you're not going to do what we are asking you
to do, we are going to field a candidate against
your top leader who's the state president of your party
hails from Adealit community on the Kutumba seat. We spoke
to surash pass One and he told us on record
(05:29):
that he's going to contest the Kutumba seat. If you
look at there are other seats also. There are other
examples also where it's become somewhat of an ego tussle
between the RJD and the Congress and also the left parties,
the CPI in particular, and that's the reason that there's
been this delay, this lag in the seat sharing announcement,
(05:49):
in endorsing the just Viatherwise, the Chief Minister face going
into the elections, and let's not forget that we just
days away from the elections in behave.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
And talk about the reason why this is happening. Because
this is in sharp contrast to the ND alliance right
because their seed sharing was announced much earlier. It's very straightforward,
the JDU and the BJPR actually contesting on an equal
number of seats. And on the other hand, you have
the Mahagadbandan where people will be contesting against each other.
(06:20):
It's the twenty third and they have not even announced
their set sharing arrangement and you've had leaders publicly speaking
out against each other. So what is the reason you
think this is happening?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
So I'll give one seat as an example.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
So the seat Bachhwara had seen a CPI candidate last
time lose by less than two hundred votes. So cpis
Adi Shrai had lost the seat by less than two
hundred votes in the twenty twenty elections, and there was
an independent candidate who had contested that election. His name
is Chif Prakash Gariddas. Now he is the son of
a former EMLA who's no more. And now the Congress
(06:58):
is despite the CPI having lost by less than two
hundred votes, the Congress wanted that seat and now we
are going to see a Congress versus CPI fight on
that seat, which is Bashwaa. So you know, this seat
is an example about how the allies have not been
on the same page in terms of seat sharing. The
(07:18):
Congress was insisting that we are going to field Garibdas
on this seat no matter what CPI's argument was. We
lost the election by less than two hundred votes, so
we deserve to contest the seat. This has been our
seat and we were promised the same seats again.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Now the end.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Result of this is that we are going to see
a CPI versus Congress versus NBA fight on this seat.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Right And the other thing you've written about is that
a lot of this is happening because of ego tussles.
And in that regard, the one person who has been
blamed a lot is the Bihar in charge for Congress,
Krishna Alavaru. Talk about who he is and what are
the allegations against him.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
So a Lavaru is a native person from Andhra and
he has worked very hard in br He's also ensured
that very few dynasts get seats this time.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Tickets this time is on behalf of the Congress.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
He's preferred to give tickets to people, give preference to
people who worked hard on the ground. In the last
few months now, the seat sharing talks between mister Alavaru
and TIJESVII and Lalu have also been installed because of
some ego battles. One example was that one leader who
was part of the conversations told me that there was
one day when Alaaru made they just we wait for
(08:34):
an hour and a half on stage. The next time
when they were supposed to share a stage, they just
be returned the favor and was two and a half
hours late. So these sort of small things have also
resulted in the delay in talks. And of course, and
let's not forget that Weather is a former Deputy Chief
Minister of Bihar. His father has been a CM in
Bihar on multiple occasions. He has the largest party in
(08:55):
Bihar in the opposition camp. The Congress, on the other hand,
keeps playing its credentials that you know, we are a
national party and that we deserve more respect in a
state like Bihar and we want to expand our footprint now.
Once the ticket distribution announcements started happening, there was also
talk within the Congress of internal sabotage. One person who
was seeking a ticket is not being given a ticket.
(09:17):
Of the record, he's telling us that, oh, I'm going
to sabotage the other person's election. Whether that happens is
something we have to wait and watch because maybe the
High Commands step since talks to people placates them, fixes
the issues. But for now, the Congress is a very
divided ship in Bihar. At this point, there were allegations
against mister Krishna Lavaru, against the state President Raji Shram,
(09:39):
Congress Legislative Party leader in Shaki Leh Mahdan. All three
of them were also attacked. Some workers of a candidate
who were seeking a ticket attacked the three at Patnai
Airport last week. So there have been these larger issues
and the main issue, the main bone of contention between
the RGD and the Congress was that the our j
(10:00):
wanted just to be the cmface in br the Congress
was not agreeing.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Something that has been sorted out.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
On Thursday morning, Asho Gelot and India Bloc, all the
allies sat down for a press conference said Asho Galotannos
that we endorsed they just be as the Chief Minister
face for our alliance. And Mukeshtani who's from the Vikashi
Insan Parti who heads the party. He's a non YadA
Obsi leader to be the deputy cmface.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Right and even besides ego clashes, the other thing that
has become a problem is the Bihar cast survey. Talk
about why that has become a bone of contention now So.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
During the voter arikariatra Raoul Gandhi consistently criticized the Bihar
Cast survey. Now other was pitching the Bihar cast survey
as something of an achievement for him. That it was
while he was Deputy Chief Minister. He got the cast
survey done, he got the numbers out, but then Niji
left and joined the NBA and he couldn't fulfill what
(10:58):
he had thought he would.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Now.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Congress on the other hand, and Rahul Gandhi on the
other hand, has been consistently criticizing the Biharkas survey. So
that's also a conflict between the RGD and the Congress.
If you look at it that there is a conflict
between the two allies on the cast survey.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Also one is.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Pitching it as his main achievement and the other is
saying that that cast survey was bogus, it was not
done well. Like the Telangana cast survey is the one
that has to be emulated and has to be taken forward.
But the Biharkas survey has been criticized by Raoul Gandhi
and the Congress.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
So that was also an issue.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
I don't know if it's been resolved, if there's been
a conversation on this, we'll find out in the next
few days. But that was also something where the two
allies were not being able to see I T I
in terms of like narrative on the ground.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
And you know, at least.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
When it comes to the chief ministerial face Congresses, Tans,
especially as a minority Alliance partner, seems so odd because
they justly is perhaps the most prominent leader in Bihar
afternith Ish. So talk about what this says about Congress's
mindset and what has been the Congress's performance in Bihar
(12:03):
in the past, Because in twenty twenty, while RJD had
won sixty five seats, Congress had won only nineteen.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So the twenty twenty elections were really bad for the Congress.
And the Congress described the narrative they built and mister
Alavaru has also furthered. This narrative is that in twenty twenty,
we were given very bad seats. Now, how do they
describe bad seats. They say that seats where the cast
combination or the community vice combination does not favor an
opposition alliance, it favors the BJP. So, for example, if
(12:36):
there is a seat where there is a high number
of Brahmins or Boomiyas and they form a decisive vote
bank on that seat, so if the Congress is given
that seat, they're going to lose it.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
So their explanation for their low strike.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Rate in twenty twenty was that we were given bad
seats as comparatively, we are going to get better and
winnable seats.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
They're calling it winnable seats.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
So that is one of the arguments that last time
the Allies gave us very bad seats. This time, we're
going to get better seats, even though closer look at
the candidate list there are only three four seats which
they've been able to take from the RGED and that
to their seats where the BJP hasn't lost for a
long long time. I think there are two seats where
the BJP hasn't lost since two thousand and one seat
(13:18):
where the BJPJDU hasn't lost since two thousand and five.
But the Congress is reasoning logic mostly revolves around the
fact that we are a national party. We can test
all the elections, we can test in all the states. Now,
one leader I was talking from the Congress. He was
pointing out something which I found quite interesting that in
twenty twenty seven there is going to be an election
in up Akil. Shadev is going to be the Chief
(13:39):
Minister face no matter what. His party is the third
largest party in parliament right now in the Luksova, so
there is no doubt in that there the Congress will
have to concede to have him as the Chief Minister face,
and Raoul Sandi will also have to go there, and
whoever the congress top brass will also have to go there.
And endorse him as the Chief Minister face, then why
not do it in Birol? So when you're going to
do it in Up, then why not do it in Bihar.
(14:00):
Al So, if your ally is so struck up on
that and you had to eventually concede to it, only right.
You could have done this two months ago, three months ago,
four months ago, even during the yaptra, you could have
from stage Raoul Gandi could have said that he is
a future Chief minister.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Didn't do that.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Now on Thursday, after all this complication, after all this chaos,
they've come back and have conceded to the rged's demand
that Okay, just the other is the Chief Minister face,
he's going to be a Chief Minister candidate for the elections.
So I don't understand this delay. The Congress leadership also
does not understand this delay. I mean the people I've
spoken to over the last few days in Bihar, in
Delhi who've been involved in this CEC, which is the
(14:36):
Central Election Committee of the Congress, then the Screening Committee
in Bihar, they're also not sure why this has happened,
why this delay is there, And now it's almost like
you know, you've delayed something so far along the election
and now you finally conceded to it and you've done
what the RGED was asking you to do for the
last six months.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
And this obviously raises a lot of questions regarding Congress's leadership.
In fact, even during this press conference where they announced
they just be as the CM candidate Rahul Gandhi was
missing from the event. So tell us where does he
fit into all this and what do leaders within the
Congress say the central leadership could have done to avoid
(15:15):
all this mess.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
You know, in the last few days, if you look
at how Prime ministerin Remodi and Raoul Gandhi have been
setting the agenda for br mister Gandhi still hasn't visited
Bihar since his voter at the Kariyatra which was in August,
and elections.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Are just days away now.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
The PM is already kickstarting his campaign very soon and
we've got details of that.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Raul Gandhi will also do it eventually at some point.
But for an.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Opposition leader for a party which is in the opposition,
I think the campaign should have been more aggressive compared
to the NDA which is in power.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
But it looks like it's the opposite.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
And there has been a lot of blame on the
central leadership also. So for example, I was talking to
one leader from Bihar who was saying that you know,
this is a regular thing in an election. There will
be four, five, three people who are looking to contest
one seat from within a party. I've covered Up's elections
in the past where I've seen Samahadi Party have twelve
candidates for a seat.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
And maybe more.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Also, so there are this friction is bound to happen
in LA election. But it is the central leadership which
sits down with people who don't get tickets, tells them, Okay,
you're not getting a ticket this time, but maybe in
the future we'll accommodate you through an MLC route or
through some other route, will give you a ticket later,
or we'll give you the ticket next time. Maybe just
(16:32):
you know this, placate them, just talk to them, have
a conversation with them, and fix the problems within the
people who are seeking tickets.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
That hasn't happened.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
And just blaming the state leadership, the state president, State
in charge Krishna Lavaru and then the CLP leader mister
Shaki Lamakan seems premature because if something goes wrong, the
buck has to stop with the person who's sitting right
at the top. Where is the high command? Why aren't
they talking to people?
Speaker 4 (16:59):
You know?
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Because if if someone like mister Krishna Lavaru does tell
someone that tomorrow I'm going to give you an MLC ticket,
the person who wanted a ticket and is not getting
it will be like, I'm not sure if you're going
to be behar in charge in the future or not.
But Rahul Gandhi or a Malika Junk they know that
they are part of the leadership of the party where
they're going to make decisions even in the future.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
So that hasn't happened.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
The top leadership has somewhat been absent and Rai still
hasn't hit the ground in Bihar. They just fee his
campaign is also going to start, I think from tomorrow.
The PM's campaign is also starting. But there has been
some lag from the Congress, high command, the top leadership
and which is clear now, which is almost like it's
(17:42):
become so chaoti that the top three leaders of a
state are being attacked by supporters of a person who
was seeking a ticket at the airport. Videos have come
out and there were also rumors that the three top
leaders were you know, in hiding for a few days
and they were getting threat calls. This is where the
high command you know, steps in and maybe gives out
a message to its leaders that are going this is
election time. Let's all be united, let's all fight this election,
(18:04):
and we will figure out things in the future that
I think hasn't happened from the Congress, and I think
that's what has resulted, is in this chaos and these
complications within the allies.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Also, and next we talk about a new government scheme
to bring back Indian origin experts who are currently settled abroad.
At a time when the Trump administration in the US
is placing restrictions on higher education from stricter wesare rules
(18:33):
to what critiques describe as ideological interference in universities, Countries
around the world are rethinking how they retain their brightest minds.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Since Donald Trump has assumed charge as the president of
the United States of America.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
This is the Innian expresses with the Kachopra, who reported
on the story for the paper.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Aside from several other disruptive decisions that he's taken. For
one reason where the Trump administration has been constantly news
is actually the interventions that the Trump administration has made
in the higher education sector which directly challenges university autonomy
and academic freedom. If you remember, you know, the administration
(19:19):
did go after several international students that it felt, you know,
students who were in fact violating their student visa terms
by way of voicing their dissent. Rather what the Trump
administration perceived as anti sentism, So any sort of voice
(19:40):
of dissent in a way was being interpreted as that.
And there were in fact many F one visas that
were revoked, many service records that were terminated as a
result of that. And following that, you know, the Trump
administration also did go after universities it felt that weren't
in fact falling in line. They actually threatened them with
(20:00):
funds cuts. A lot of these decisions are now you know,
they have been challenged in court, but on and off
there have been several run ins between the Trump administration
and the indite universities in the US, so that itself
has created a lot of uncertainty in the academic community.
(20:21):
There uncertainty in terms of the number of international students
that they could take, which of course you know, is
sort of a financial lifeline for several universities in the
US and also you know, just funding of major research projects.
So that's the current state of play in the US.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
And so in the light of this, India is positioning
itself right at the center of the global race for talent.
The government is working on a new scheme to bring
back Indian origion scientists and researchers settled abroad to strengthen
the country's research ecosystem. So to understand what does this
plan involves and what it could mean for the Indian
(21:01):
higher education we speak to Ritaka in the segment, who
starts by explaining what this scheme is and the kind
of faculty the government hopes to attract.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
So what we have learned is that for the last
several months, maybe around March April, the Principal Scientific Advisor's
Office actually roped in the Education Ministry, the Department of
Science and Technology and the Department of Biotechnology and a
bunch of meetings can mean with these departments and essentially
(21:32):
now what the center's planning is a scheme or initiative
which would work towards attracting Indian origin quote unquote staff
faculty and researchers who are settled abroad to come back
and work in Indian institutions. Now, this of course has
been conceived at a time when as I mentioned that,
(21:53):
you know, there is a lot of uncertainty in the
research and academic community in the US, and Indian fact
is sort of it doesn't have the first mover's advantage here.
There are other countries, you know, in Europe, that China,
even Taiwan, they have announced initiatives as part of their
efforts to not just internationalize their high raduation system, but
(22:13):
of course use this as an opportunity to attract solid
talent to their countries. So India is now joining that race,
and it is at this moment as we speak. There
have been many meetings that have been held and they're
trying to draw up the contours of this initiative, something
that is lucrative, something that will in fact attract staff faculty.
(22:34):
Please remember the operative part here is that they're looking
not to bring back Indian origin post dog scholars or
people who just finished their doctorate program. They want people
who have solid work to their credit. So in order
to do that, what is it that the Indian government
can offer which can convince them to spend at least
(22:57):
five years in the country, and they feel that they're
presence and their work in some of our premier institutions
like the IITs. IITs in fact have been part of
these conversations and they are on board. But this would
in fact strength in the country's research and development ecosystem,
and they're willing to oppositions in premier institutions and labs
under the DSD and DBT. So that essentially is a
(23:20):
broad outline of what the government is doing at this moment.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
ANDRETHINKA. We know that this isn't the first time an
initiative like this has been raised by the government, right,
so how is this program different from existing initiatives like
Vajra or Gyan, which also similarly aimed to connect overseas researchers.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
You're right, this is not the first time that the
governments strive to has attempted this. There are programs like GYAN,
which is run by the Education Ministry. There is VURDERRA,
which is Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty program which is
run by the Department of Science and Technology, and all
of these programs are designed to bring foreign faculty to
(24:02):
come spend you know, sort of short stints here in
the country. So here the operative part is that all
of these attempts that have been made aren't really have
been for short term projects. But what is now being
looked at is sort of more full time, longer term appointments,
like I said, sort of a five year stint so
that you know, the faculty is able to actually undertake
(24:24):
some impactful research during that time. So that's essentially the difference,
you know, the time that the government hopes that the
Star faculty would be spending in India, right.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
And so what kind of support or for that matter,
incentives are being discussed for the faculty.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
So we don't have all the details on incentives being discussed,
but we have been told that you know, for instance,
would be to kind of offer them solid set up
crafts to enable them to kind of once they're here,
to establish their laboratories and kind of put together team
immediately so that there is essentially no wake time per se.
(25:04):
That is one thing that we were given a clear
indication of. They would also try and make a renumeration
more lucrative. That's obviously the obvious thing. But another thing
is I think what the government's trying to ensure. I
mean the problems that it has paced in the past, well,
its past attempts at bringing back overseas Indian researchers has
(25:26):
essentially been there. There have been procedural dealis in terms
of permissions that are required from different universities, funding uncertainty,
you know, institutional support. So they don't want any of
these things to turn into annoyances which eventually drive them
back to the country that they came from. So at
this point they are trying to iron that out, sort
(25:49):
of laid down certain things, cast certain things in stones
so that these issues don't come up later because frankly,
these in fact have been hurdles. These are structural hurdles
that Indian has which has kind of you know, prevented
the country from attracting good faculty to India.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
And lastly, with the what are the next steps for
this plan, like when might we see the first set
of faculty return under the scheme.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
So this of course would require you know, because it
requires a significant amount of investment on the goverment's part.
So this would require and from what I understand, the
Cabinet's approval, the Union cabinet's approval once that is. In fact, interestingly,
we're also told that even before that the scheme comes
up a cabinet approval, the government machinery actually has already
(26:36):
started sounding out researchers and scientists of Indian origin based
in the US about this scheme. You know, the word
is kind of out that this scheme would come in
any moment, just in order to I guess, spread awareness,
but more than that, to also gauge interest. From what
I understand, the feeling within the government is that there
is interest, and which is why based on that, they're
(26:58):
kind of going ahead with the scheme. But in terms
of exact timelines, I'm not able to give you that
right now, but I'm told that they are giving finishing
touches to this scheme, that it is likely to come
up for cabinet approval soon, and once it does, I
think they will throw this open for applications soon.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And next we talk about Karnataka, when investigators have uncovered
a major vote fraud operation in the Alum constituency where
they said the right to vote was allegedly being sold
for eighty rupees per deletion. A special investigation team of
the Karnataka Police has found fraudulent voter deletion applications were
(27:42):
systematically filed ahead of the twenty twenty three Karnataka elections.
As reported by The Union Expresses, Johnson ta the ASCIETY
discovered that a data center operated in Kalaburagi was paid
around four point eight lakh rupees to process over six
thousand voter deletion requests between December twenty twenty two and
(28:03):
February twenty twenty three. The case first came to light
when the Election Commission discovered that thousands of names had
been marked for deletion in Ireland. A ground verification later
revealed that only twenty four of the six thousand and
eighteen names met the criteria for deletion, meaning that more
than nineteen nine percent of the applications were false. Johnson
(28:26):
notes that the ASIIT, which took over the investigation last month,
traced the fraudulent operation to a data center run by
two individuals, Mohammada shak and Mohammad Akram. Investigators believed they
used Internet base calls and multiple phone numbers to file
deletion applications through the Election Commission's portal. Ashwak who was
questioned in twenty twenty three and released after promising to
(28:49):
surrender his devices, later moved to the y. In fact,
earlier this month, the SITI conducted searches at properties linked
to the BJP leader Shabhajh Gutar, who had lost the
twenty five twenty three election from Ireland, as well as
his sons and a chartered accountant. Seven laptops, several mobile
phones and other electronic equipment were also seized. Investigators are
(29:11):
now probing the source of the money used to fund
the deletion. The investigation has also revealed that seventy five
mobile numbers were registered on the Election Commission portal for
filing the deletions. The phone numbers were traced to a
range of individuals, including relatives of policemen and workers in
poultry farms. Authorities are looking into how fake credentials were
(29:32):
created to gain access to the election Commission system. Meanwhile,
Gutdar has denied any involvement, claiming that the allegations were
politically motivated and raised by congress MLA B. R. Pattel,
who defeated him in twenty twenty three. Partil, on the
other hand, has accused the BJP of orchestrating the voter
deletions as part of a larger attempt to manipulate electoral outcomes.
(29:56):
Congress leader Pawan Keira also made a statement that the
asciety findings validated Rahul Gandhi's earlier vote story allegations. You
were listening to Three Things by the Indian Express. Today's
show was edited and mixed by Sesh Bavar and produced
by Shishanghgov and me Ichasharma. If you like the show,
(30:17):
do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast. You
can also recommend it to someone you think may like it,
with a friend or in your family. This is the
best way for people to get to know about us.
You can also tweet us at Express podcast or write
to us at podcast at Indian Express dot com.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.