India news roundup: Parliament session ends in stalemate, Air India mandates drug testing

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present as the session marked by a fierce standoff over student protests wrapped up.

This blog is closed. It covered the latest developments from India on Thursday, August 13:

Both houses of the Indian parliament were adjourned sine die on Thursday

A political stalemate between Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi's governement and the opposition showed no signs of abating during the 19-day long proceedings

Lawmakers from ruling coalition and the opposition staged demonstrations on the final day of the session, drawing a session overshadowed by protests to close.

We are ending our blog posts from India here today. We will have more stories from there tomorrow.

Tata Trusts begins search for successor to Tata Sons Chairman Chandrasekaran

India's Tata Trusts said it will set up a selection panel to recommend the next chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the $180 billion Tata Group.

The decision follows Chairman N Chandrasekaran's announcement that he will not seek reappointment when his term ends in February.

Tata Trusts praised Chandrasekaran's leadership over the past decade and said a committee would be formed as soon as possible.

The conglomerate has faced a year of leadership tensions and boardroom disputes, including concerns about losses at some group companies.

Chandrasekaran said he was stepping down because of a lack of support from one board member. Indian media reports have linked the disagreement to Noel Tata, head of Tata Trusts.

The trusts own 66% of Tata Sons, giving the charitable institutions significant influence over the future direction of India's largest business group.

All Air India pilots to undergo mandatory drug testing — report

Air India has ordered a mandatory dope test for all its pilots, starting Thursday, as it expands checks beyond existing regulatory requirements after a pilot involved in a serious mid-air incident tested positive for marijuana, reports said citing an internal memo of the country's flag carrier.

The screening would check pilots for any prohibited substances and medications under aviation regulations, as per the internal communication.

The tests will be conducted alongside training sessions at Air India's academy in Gurugram, or post-flight at the airline's briefing centres and offices, reports said.

Under the existing rules, airlines carry out random testing of at least least 10% of their flight crew for psychoactive substances each year.

"We nevertheless now feel that it is important to go further," Reuters cited the internal email from Air India as saying.

The decision comes as Indian aviation authorities probe an incident involving an Air India flight from Phuket to New Delhi on August 4, which suddenly lost about 300 feet (91 meters) of altitude, injuring 20 passengers and four crew members.

The captain of the Airbus A320neo tested positive for marijuana in a confirmatory drug test following the incident.

READ — Data centers boom as water supply runs low

Companies around the world are still scrambling to set up new AI infrastructure and India is increasingly positioning itself as a data center hub — but the new sites demand enormous quantities of water to cool the servers.

More than half of India's data centers are in regions that are already water-stressed as the country races to build more.

Nine Tamil Nadu fishers arrested by Sri Lanka Navy

Nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram were arrested on Thursday by the Sri Lanka's Navy for allegedly fishing across the border in Sri Lankan waters.

The fishermen's trawler had reportedly crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) into Sri Lankan waters and engaged in “bottom trawling,” the Sri Lankan Navy said in a statement, adding that the vessel was seized.

Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister Srinath said he would visit New Delhi next week to discuss measures to prevent the arrest of his state's fishermen with Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Union Minister of Fisheries Rajiv Ranjan Singh.

"A positive outcome will be reached soon," Srinath told the media.

Karnataka Bandh calls shutdown over Tamil Nadu Cauvery dispute

A statewide shutdown was called in the southern Indian state of Karnataka over the Cauvery river watersharing issue with Tamil Nadu.

Thursday's agitation came in opposition to the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directing Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of Cauvery river's water to the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu for 15 days.

Protesters have called on the Karnataka government to not release the water saying the state itself is facing water shortages, particularly for drinking and irrigation requirements.

The dispute over sharing the water of the 765-kilometer (475-mile) long river, which resurfaces during rainfall deficit years, dates back a century and has also witnessed bloodshed in the past.

On Thursday, security measures were tightened in several places in the state, including in Mandya, one of the districts associated with the longstanding issue.

According to news agency PTI, the shutdown was met with a mixed response with protests in Mandya and preventive detentions at various locations. However, urban areas like Bengaluru and Mysuru remained unaffected after organizations that had earlier backed the shutdown, pulled away their support.

Protests mark monsoon session of parliament

On the very first day of the monsoon session on July 20, parliament was rocked by a massive youth-led march trying to get to its gates as part of the Cockroach Janta Party movement demanding the resignation of the now former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam irregularities.

The protesters were met with baton-charges and tear gas firing, and since then the opposition has railed against the violent crackdown, demanding an answer in the parliament from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over alleged police brutality.

On Wednesday, Shah said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was ready for a discussion on the student protests which were triggered by a slew of medical entrance exam paper leaks. The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Congress's Rahul Gandhi, turned down the debate offer saying that the youth wanted answers on who ordered the use of force on protesters and "not a lecture" from Shah.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Union Minister of Parliamentarty Affairs Kiren Rijiju accused the opposition of "running away from discussions" and alleged that opposition disruptions affected parliament's productivity.

During the 19-day monsoon session several demonstrations were held by the Congress-led alliance of opposition parties called the INDIA bloc on the parliament premises against the police action and a donation embezzlement controversy linked to the Ram Temple, a shrine central to Modi's Hindu-first politics.

Lawmakers from Modi's ruling coalition also began staging their own demonstrations, including on the last day over another student protest in Jharkhand — where the Congress party is an ally of the ruling coalition. Tear gas, batons and water cannons were also used to disperse the protesters marching towards the state assembly in Ranchi.

Political deadlock rife as parliament's monsoon session ends

India's parliament convened on Thursday for the final day of its monsoon session amid an unrelenting political standoff between the government and the opposition.

Both houses of the parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, were adjourned sine die shortly after they commenced for the last day of the session.

The country's supreme legislative body struggled to get its business done this season with parliament being turned into a demonstration ground by lawmakers over last month's massive Cockroach protests and the ongoing student protest in the state of Jharkhand.

Welcome to our coverage

This is Dharvi from DW's studio in New Delhi. We are back with the Thursday edition of the India blog, where we break down all the biggest headlines that are creating a buzz in the world's most populous nation.

First up, it is the final day of the monsoon session of the Indian parliament, which has had quite a stormy spell so far. The parliament’s second regular session of the year was overcast by a massive youth-led protest, the consequent resignation of the country’s education minister and a near-daily political deadlock, marked by demonstrations and counter-demonstrations by the bloc of opposition parties and the ruling coalition.

In other news. the southern Indian state of Karnataka is witnessing a day-long shutdown over the longstanding Cauvery river watersharing dispute with the neighboring Tamil Nadu state.

Stay tuned as we bring you all this and more.