From lifeline to irrelevant: MTNL is now knee-deep in losses

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Tuesday, 17 September 2024 TheFinePrint   By Manasi Phadke, Deputy Editor

Just about two decades ago, MTNL and BSNL were integral parts of life through landline telephones and the jarring beeping sounds that were a precursor to all broadband Internet surfing. Now, the two state-owned telecommunications companies remain in losses, with MTNL possibly becoming the first large PSU to classify its loans as non- performing assets, TCA Sharad Raghavan writes. Manipur saw violence again on 1 September. Ananya Bhardwaj, who has done some extensive reporting on the Kuki-Meitei strife from the ground over the last one year, is back in the northeastern state, dissecting what exactly happened in the fresh round of violence. India is ramping its space diplomacy. In the past five years or so, it has signed cooperative agreements with 61 countries and five multilateral organisations in the space sector. In this report Keshav Padmanabhan and Soumya Pillai explain what’s driving these efforts and what India stands to gain from them. Earlier this month, the launch of a brand of eye drops that can cure presbyopia had captured everyone’s imagination until the product’s regulatory approval was revoked. Sumi Sukanya Dutta explains the development, the controversy and safety concerns around pilocarpine, the active ingredient used in the eye drop.   Also Read: Fighting the Dalit fight on screen & in life, the (almost) politics of Tamil Nadu filmmaker Pa Ranjith By Prabhakar Tamilarasu - Read more Sattva, rajas, tamas—How ancient Ayurvedic food classifications got tied to meat politics By Triya Gulati - Read more Anil Vij stakes claim to Haryana CM’s post, says he is senior-most BJP legislator in state By Sushil Manav - Read more   Opinion Let’s not overlook the Rs 4,000 crore X-ray fraud, the Rs 2,000 crore panic button swindle, the Rs 1,000 crore bus procurement irregularities, or the Rs 125 crore lavish renovation of the Delhi CM’s ‘Sheesh Mahal’ residence. With such a staggering trail of corruption allegations, Kejriwal’s bail hardly seems like a victory worth celebrating. AAP’s festivities – and Kejriwal’s ‘resignation’ – appear to be more of a smokescreen to divert attention from the troubling questions of governance and accountability, writes BJP leader and social activist Meenakshi Lekhi. In any democracy, the trustworthiness of government data cannot become a point of contention. Facts cannot become subjects of debate. And therefore when the census is not conducted, and an eminent statistician who was calling for it gets fired quietly, it’s time to worry. Worse, said statistician preferred one kind of survey methodology which yielded survey results which weren’t to the liking of political appointees, writes data scientist and author Nilakantan RS.   Video National Conference president Farooq Abdullah targets BJP for turning people of Kashmir into prisoners of Delhi. In this interview with ThePrint’s senior associate editor Neelam Pandey, Abdullah says if his party wins the upcoming state polls, it will go to the Supreme Court for restoring J&K’s statehood. Sheikh Hasina’s ouster has sent shockwaves beyond Bangladesh, rattling the film industry in neighbouring West Bengal. The crisis has put ongoing projects and cross-border collaborations in jeopardy, throwing Kolkata’s leading filmmakers in disarray. From Srijit Mukherji’s 'Padatik' to Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy’s 'Bohurupi', many joint film ventures are now stuck. Watch this week's column by Author and Journalist Deep Halder.   Why NC Chief Farooq Abdullah believes Engineer Rashid has been sent to Kashmir by Modi govt 'Bangladesh crisis hits West Bengal film industry, cross-border projects in limbo' From Today's Newspapers 5 reports you should read: TMC women MLAs admit: ‘Something has gone wrong… police should have done duty’, The Indian Express AAP to pick a new CM as Kejriwal prepares to quit, The Hindu Cow vigilante menace enters national capital, Hindustan Times Throw Light on Dark Stores: Govt to Qcomm, The Economic Times Baba Kalyani vs Gaurishankar: Kalyani siblings wage a battle of wills, Business Standard 5 opinions of the day: Behind Mamata Banerjee’s failure to read the protests, the establishment’s unfamiliarity with its new language by Paromita Chakrabarti in The Indian Express Indian military export to Israel — aiding genocide by Prashant Bhushan & Cheryl Dsouza in The Hindu Curbing the suicide contagion by Anjuli Bhargava in Hindustan Times More money's on its way! by Neelkanth Mishra in The Economic Times Caste equality: Income disparity persists despite education, social capital by Nitin Desai in Business Standard   We hope you enjoyed our newsletter. If you have questions or feedback, please do contact us.

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