Your Daily Wrap: Jharkhand’s ruling JMM-Congress coalition MLAs meet Governor; GST collections rise to 28% at Rs 1.43 lakh crore in August; and more

Amidst reports of ongoing tussle between some ministers and their respective heads of departments, and hours after Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, who held charge of many significant departments, retired, Uttar Pradesh witnessed a major administrative reshuffle of senior IAS officers. Among the most striking changes, indicating the new equations in UP power corridors, was in the portfolio of Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Navneet Sahgal. Sahgal loses charge of Information, MSME, Khadi and Resham and Handloom Departments, and takes over as ACS, Sports. Maulshree Seth reports.

Collections from Goods and Services Tax (GST) rose 28 per cent to Rs 1.43 lakh crore in August, the Finance Ministry said today. Revival in consumption, high inflation rate, and partial impact of the rate hike decisions taken in the 47th GST Council meeting, which came into effect from July 18, along with the broader economic recovery, supported the increase in GST revenues. A look at what the increased revenues signify and what experts have to say.

China’s “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region may constitute crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights chief said in a report released on Wednesday. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who has faced criticism from some diplomats and rights groups for being too soft on China, released the report just minutes before her four-year term ended. She visited China in May.  The report said that “serious human rights violations have been committed” in Xinjiang “in the context of the government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-‘extremism’ strategies”.

Twitter will roll out and test one of its most highly awaited features: the ability to edit one’s tweet after it has been posted. The social media company said it is internally testing the edit button and the feature that will be rolled out to paid subscribers in the coming weeks.

Political Pulse

The ripples of the Congress presidential election, with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s name pitched in, are being felt in Rajasthan. As the supporters of Sachin Pilot – pushed to the margins under Gehlot – spot an opening for him, many of them are speaking up.  Deep Mukherjee reports.

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) has made it clear that it will play a role in the Gujarat Assembly polls later this year, but some of its leaders do not seem to be on the same page and questions remain about which side the outfit will veer towards. For now, the options for PAAS, at least in Surat, are the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Express Explained

Educator and women’s rights activist Mary Roy, who passed away on Thursday, was best known for the “Mary Roy” case, the prolonged legal battle that ensured equal property rights for women from Kerala’s Syrian Christian families. Denied equal rights to her deceased father’s property, Mary Roy sued her brother, George Isaac, marking the beginning of a case that is seen as a milestone in ensuring gender justice in India. A look at Mary Roy’s plea, and the verdict in the case.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a loan of $2.9 billion to Sri Lanka. The island country, which is battling its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, witnessed widespread protests earlier this year that forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign as President, and brought Ranil Wickremesinghe to power. Why is Sri Lanka’s economy in such a mess and how will the IMF funds help the nation? We explain.

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