Express 5: Journey of India’s Nobel laureate; Modi’s Maha strategy

We bring you the five best stories of the Indian Express you must read before starting your day.

1. Nobel Laureates

So when his name was announced for the Nobel Peace Prize, along with that of Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai, it sounded unfamiliar to most Indians. Unlike many of his more famous colleagues in the non-governmental sector, he was not a celebrity activist. He has not been feted with awards and honours in India and is not seen or heard in the media very often.

2.Assembly Polls 2014

The BJP’s star campaigner has also been spotted wearing a Kolhapuri pheta, the traditional headgear, in an election advertisement — and even a Mavla topi, once worn by Maratha soldiers, in a promotional video for the party candidate in Thane.
With electoral alliances breaking and just four days left for voting in Maharashtra, Modi’s carefully crafted metamorphosis is a clear indication of his campaign strategy. He has chosen to be more Marathi than the sons of the soil.

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3. Love Jihad

Sachin and Khadija fell in love more than nine years ago, when together in Class VIII in rural Meerut. To Sachin, marrying Khadija was the most natural thing after he had finished his engineering and she her political science graduation. They wed at an Arya Samaj Mandir, and Khadija took on a Hindu name.

4. Opinion

Our government must understand that the ‘one size fits all’ approach does not work in international relations. Our position in the world and our ambition to be at the high table limits our options for dealing with a recalcitrant Pakistan. The government must
be careful about believing the words it spoke to decry the UPA when it was in power.

READ MORE: After the spectacle

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5. Sports

Probably he didn’t mean it this way, but in trying to explain the difference between opening with Rohit Sharma vis-a-vis Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan ended up praising the latter so effusively that it felt like an unwitting, borderline criticism of the former.

READ MORE: Top drawer

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