As the special session of Parliament begins today, the Government has listed eight Bills for consideration and passage. The government also announced that House proceedings would move to the new Parliament building on Tuesday.
There was, however, no clarity on whether the government would take up the contentious Bill which seeks to change the method of appointment and conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.
Lok Sabha is ageing, asking fewer questions, and passing fewer Bills – This is what we found upon mapping the 75 years of Parliamentary journey, which is also one of the items for discussion during the special session.
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When the Indian hockey team begins its quest to reclaim the Asian Games gold medal next week and qualify for the Paris Olympics, it will rely heavily on PR Sreejesh. In this edition of Idea Exchange, the goalkeeper speaks on the changing landscape of Indian hockey, his journey to the top, using reflexes in real life and role of education in sport.
We speak to Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, about how the company’s outlook has changed towards an EV-first approach, the charging infrastructure in India, and when there could be price parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.
📰 From the Front Page
When India arrived in Sri Lanka, they had plenty of riddles to solve — figuring out the best combination, injuries and more. On Sunday, their performance against Sri Lanka was so clinical and ruthless that they wrapped home their eighth Asia Cup title in only 21.3 overs. India desperately needed such a win to lift their morale before the World Cup.
Santiniketan, the university town in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, has been inscribed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Let’s take a look at Rabindranath Tagore’s abode.
Abhay Karandikar, Director of IIT-Kanpur and one of India’s leading experts on telecommunications, has been appointed Secretary of Department of Science and Technology (DST), ending a two-month-long stop-gap arrangement in the department. He has been one of the brains behind the introduction of 5G technology in the country.
👩💻 Must read
A month ago, a young woman in Surehti village of Haryana’s Jhajjar district was killed for marrying a man who belonged to a different caste from the same village. Nearly six years earlier, another young woman who lived two lanes away from Anjali was strangled for being in a relationship with a man from a nearby village.
We visit the village, and trace the story of these two similarly tragic deaths, six years apart.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Dr A S Anoop Kumar, an expert on infectious diseases and tropical fevers, who has been instrumental in containment of the Nipah outbreak both in 2018 and 2023, explains why the virus keeps returning to Kerala, how its symptoms have changed, and why more studies are needed on it.
In our Opinion section today, Nandita Jayaraj and Aashima Dogra write about the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize’s “consistent failure to recognise women scientists”: “Ageism, casteism, sexism and the hegemony of old boys’ clubs need to be questioned if we want to achieve any form of inclusivity in the Indian science community.”
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has emerged as the main negotiator on behalf of the Meitei community in the ongoing ethnic conflict in the state. It was formed four years ago in response to the Indo-Naga peace talks, amidst fears that the settlement would involve breaking up the state of Manipur. Find out more about them here
⌛ And finally
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Aliases inspired by movies (‘Maya’), a physical characteristic or personality trait (‘Pistoli’), or the name of their village: for seasoned and upcoming gangsters operating in and around Delhi-NCR, adopting quirky names has been an age-old affair to show dominance and suave. We take a closer look.
🤫 From concerns over the Election Commission’s voluntary drive to collect Aadhaar numbers to link with voter IDs to BJP being upset over the ‘lack of enthusiasm at ground level’ for its campaign against corruption and rise in crimes in Rajasthan: check out today’s Delhi Confidential for more!
🎧 In the latest episode of the 3 Things podcast, we discuss how the new EC bill could erode the authority of election commissioners, the significance of the India-Saudi ties, and why the ED is after the promoters of the Mahadev app.
Until next time,
Sonal Gupta and Arushi Bhaskar
