Your Daily Wrap: Delhi Dy CM asks Amit Shah to clear the air over Rohingya issue; Centre blocks 8 YouTube channels; and more

The Centre today issued orders to block eight YouTube-based news channels, including one operating from Pakistan, for allegedly spreading “false content detrimental to communal harmony, public order and India’s foreign relations”, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said. Since December 2021, the I&B Ministry has issued directions to block 102 YouTube channels and several other social media accounts. The ministry stated that such “corrective action will be taken from time to time”.

Amid the power tussle, O Panneerselvam, known as OPS, today called for a united AIADMK and urged Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) to forget their bitter past. OPS said it was only due to the differences between them that the DMK was able to emerge as the ruling party in the state. His comments come a day after the Madras High Court ruled in favour of him and asked for the dual leadership of the party to continue. In reply, EPS said that it was OPS who revolted against Sasikala and did a ‘Dharmayudham’ and he was now batting to include her in the party and this showed his hunger for power.

In Express Opinion today:

PB Mehta writes | ‘Is this how justice ends?’: Bilkis Bano’s question should haunt the Indian republic

AAP’s opposition to Rohingya settlement shows a parochial party, unfit to be a national alternative

Political Pulse

Changes at the top in the central BJP organisation, including the removal of Nitin Gadkari and the inclusion of Devendra Fadnavis, have sent ripples of speculation in the Maharashtra unit of the party. While no one is willing to come on record on the matter, leaders are reading several messages in this particular shuffle. Shubhangi Khapre reports.

Following the expansion of the council of ministers in Bihar earlier this week, the BJP pointed out the dominant presence of the OBC Yadav community in the government — seven from the RJD and one from the JD(U), or almost 25 per cent, in the ministry of 33. This led the BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi to quip, “There is a social imbalance as other sections of society have either symbolic or no representation.” But, analysis of the new Nitish Kumar-led government shows that nine berths in the council of ministers, or over 25 per cent of the departments, have gone to a caste combination of non-Yadav, non-Koeri, non-Kurmi and non-Vaishya OBCs, Extremely Backward Classes EBCs, and Dalits. The JD(U) has tried to strike a balance between these groups and upper-caste groups, while the Congress has gone back to its tried and tested Muslim-Dalit combination. Santosh Singh reports.

Express Explained

Reports said Mudhol hounds, a breed of hunting dogs native to north Karnataka, could be inducted into the Special Protection Group (SPG), the elite force protecting the Prime Minister of India. The dogs already serve with the Indian armed forces and some paramilitary forces and could become the first indigenous breed to be part of the SPG. What are the characteristics of the Mudhol hound and when was it first inducted into the Indian Army? Read here.

‘Action Star’ Aditya has a big Diwali release: Garuda. The film promises to be a money spinner for its producers as it checks all the boxes for being a mega hit. But there is one hitch. A film piracy group, the Tamilrockerz, is threatening to release the film online before it hits the big screen. This description neatly encapsulates the premise of a new web series, Tamilrockerz, set to release Friday. But the drama it projects on screen tallies closely with real-life scenes that played out sometime around 2018 ahead of a big ticket release of a Tamil film star. Who were the Tamilrockerz, and why did they become a headache for the Tamil film industry? We explain.