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No ‘Cow Hug Day’ on February 14: Animal Welfare Board withdraws appeal https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/no-cow-hug-day-february-14-animal-welfare-board-withdraws-appeal-173110 The Animal Welfare Board of India made an appeal to all “cow lovers” to celebrate February 14 as “Cow Hug Day” to bring “emotional richness”, which received backlash online.  After receiving much ridicule online and in other spaces, the Animal Welfare Board of India has withdrawn its appeal to hug a cow on February 14, Valentine’s Day. In its appeal, it urged “cow lovers” in the country to celebrate the occasion as “Cow Hug Day”. However, in its latest communication on Friday, February 10, the board said, “As directed by the Competent Authority and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, the appeal issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India for celebration of Cow Hug Day on 14th February, 2023 stands withdrawn.”

Christophe Jaffrelot writes: A new Rahul Gandhi, an old Congress Christophe Jaffrelot February 9, 2023 https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/christophe-jaffrelot-writes-a-new-rahul-gandhi-an-old-congress-8431128 Bharat Jodo Yatra has helped Rahul Gandhi's image. But electoral success for his party is another matter

Can Rahul Gandhi now compete with Modi? He’s certainly a leader for some people. But Modi’s power relies on other pillars. First, there’s the so-called mainstream media’s saturation of the public sphere with his image, the G20 story and so on. Second, Modi’s political resilience is also due to the Sangh Parivar, an organisational backing that Rahul misses given the condition of the Congress party.

While the Bharat Jodo Yatra may not translate to electoral gains in the near future, by returning to the roots of the Congress — as a people’s movement — Rahul has prepared the ground for a different future, something others may (or may not) help him to build, before it’s too late. 

The Curious Case of the Democratic Party of India https://caravanmagazine.in/politics/s-jaishankar-indian-embassy-covert-us-lobbying-article-370-kashmir URVASHI SARKAR 10 February 2023
Indian embassy in Washington engaged lobbying firm to run obscure entity to influence US lawmakers after abrogation of Article 370

On 1 December 2019, (https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6401-Exhibit-AB-20191204-11.pdf - filing under US law-FARA) Cornerstone Government Affairs began to work on behalf of the government of India. On the very same day they “acquired a new foreign principal”, the Democratic Party of India. (https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6401-Supplemental-Statement-20200228-6.pdf)