Express daily briefing: Solar Eclipse 2019 begins; How Jharkhand elections result fits into a pattern; and more

Solar Eclipse 2019 begins

The final solar eclipse of the year 2019 has begun. It is an annular eclipse which happens when the moon is farthest from the Earth. Several countries, including parts of India, are experiencing the celestial phenomenon, which started in India roughly around 8:00 am with a partial eclipse. In this type of an eclipse, the moon does not block the sun completely, but looks like a “dark disk on top of a larger sun-colored disk” forming a “ring of fire”. Follow LIVE updates

Economy slowdown puts a question mark on 14 per cent GST compensation

As the Centre grapples with lower GST collections, a fresh tension now engulfs the Union Finance Minister-chaired GST Council with a certain section questioning the assumption of a 14 per cent “high” revenue growth rate covered by a compensation mechanism mentioned in the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act. 

Opinion: State incapacity and NRC

In light of the severe capacity constraint, if the NRC is to be ever launched then the first step for the MHA should be to strengthen the existing infrastructure to account for at least every birth and death within the country. An unintended consequence of this could be its immediate effect on health and safety policies. At present, the existing infrastructure is not conducive to launch an NRC. It will only lead to chaos, confusion and exclusion of the weakest and the poorest sections of society, write Mudit Kapoor and Shamika Ravi.

Panel works on how to split assets between J&K and Ladakh UTs

Although the committee for division of assets between the newly formed Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh submitted its preliminary assessment two months ago, many contentious issues remain. These pertain to division of immovable assets owned by the erstwhile state in Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Mumbai, besides allocation of government officials of various state departments to the two UTs. The final report of the Committee is expected by the end of the current financial year.

How Jharkhand Assembly elections result fits into a pattern

The loss of an incumbent government is not very dramatic, but losing over 17 per cent of the vote in just six months is indeed deeply troubling for a government. This is what the Jharkhand results have brought about for the BJP. As the post-poll carried out by Lokniti-CSDS (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies) shows, there are many state-level factors contributing to this debacle but, at the same time, the larger impact would still haunt the BJP. In keeping with recent trends across the country, this Assembly poll saw a focus on local issues and a limited influence of the central leaders of parties, particularly the BJP.

Badminton doubles coach blames ‘bad attitude’ of Indian players for early exit of foreign coaches

Indian badminton’s specialist doubles coach Flandy Limpele, from Indonesia, has flagged “bad attitude of some players” in the country’s elite camp, and warned that it is not conducive to the growth of the doubles discipline. He also said it was one reason why “three previous foreign coaches left before their contracts ended.”

Sambhar lake may have been lethal electric trap when birds arrived

More than 20,000 migratory birds died since they began congregating at Rajasthan’s famed Sambhar lake late October, their carcass samples testing negative for avian flu and poisoning. An investigation by The Indian Express has revealed that a vast network of live wires running thousands of bore wells could have created a submerged electric trap and the carcass of electrocuted birds could have served as the biomass for the toxic bacteria to thrive.