Good morning, In today’s edition: Manipur girl’s silver win at Asian Games; In digital Bill, Govt may ban some new tech; Chandramukhi 2 movie review; and more 🚨 Big Story With places of worship being vandalised in the ethnic clashes that have roiled Manipur since May, a three-member committee of former judges, constituted by the Supreme Court, has asked the state government to “immediately identify” all religious buildings in the state and protect them from damage, destruction and encroachment. At Asian Games, Manipur girl Roshibina Devi Naorem clinched a silver medal for India in wushu on Thursday. Within minutes from the win, tears flowed down Devi’s face. While in Hangzhou, her mind was on the ethnic violence back home in Manipur. Hailing from Bishnupur district, one of the epicentres of ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities that have kept the state on the boil for months now, Devi, a Meitei, said she’s spent sleepless nights worrying about her parents. Meanwhile, in a significant decision, the Mizoram government has declared that it will not be collecting biometric data of Myanmar refugees in the state, ignoring a direction by the Centre. ⚡ Only in Express The Centre is planning to regulate the deployment of emerging technologies and could categorically prohibit some of these new age technologies where it sees a risk to the user, or a national security risk, The Indian Express has learnt. 📰 From the Front Page Agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, who passed away on Thursday, was the master strategist and brain behind introducing the high yielding wheat varieties that helped India to become self-sufficient in foodgrains, writes Harish Damodaran. According to Ashok Gulati, Swaminathan brought science and humanity together. “Challenge today is to continue Swaminathan's legacy, improve farmers' profitability during times of climate change,” Gulati writes. Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Congress MLA from Bholath in Punjab and chief of the All India Kisan Congress, was arrested Thursday morning from Chandigarh in connection with a 2015 narcotics case. In an angry response, the Congress told the AAP, the party ruling Punjab, that constituents of the INDIA bloc should not be employing “the BJP’s tool” of “vendetta politics” against each other. In April this year, at the height of the Sudan conflict, the Indian Air Force pulled off a daring operation, evacuating 121 Indians from a World War II-era military base in the desert near Nile. Here's how they did it 👩💻 Must read The Union government is ‘fully prepared’ to levy 28% GST on face value at entry level for online gaming, casinos and horse racing from October 1, a senior official said on Thursday. However, all states are yet to pass legal amendments for the same– when asked if this could lead to delays, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal declined to comment. Read our report for more Maldives goes to runoff polls this Saturday. With incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih facing a tough re-election, and the Opposition amping up its ‘India-Out’ campaign, The Indian Express’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor Shubhajit Roy explains everything you need to know about these elections. In our Opinion section, Farzana Afridi writes on women’s political representation and labour force participation: “Women political leaders may be more amenable to introducing legislation that enforces gender parity in pay and work conditions in the formal sector, besides stressing policies that expand work opportunities for women in the manufacturing sector.” With the Rajasthan Assembly elections fast approaching, BJP has again opted for the central leadership to lead the campaign while sidelining arguably its biggest asset and the only leader to have a following across the state, Vasundhara Raje. We take a closer look ⌛ And finally Wondering whether to watch Chandramukhi 2 this weekend? Find out what Kirubhakar Purushothaman has to say about it: “Chandramukhi 2 is just a garden-variety horror film and a bad one at that… On top of being a shoddy horror film, it also ends up tainting the legacy of the original.” 🤫 The buzz in BJP circles is that Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is not sure whether he will be projected as the BJP’s face for the Assembly polls. Find out more, only in today’s Delhi Confidential! 🎧 In the latest episode of the 3 Things podcast, we discuss the Manipur government extending AFSPA in the state, 'minor' monuments may be removed from list of protected monuments, and Gujarat banning a tree species. Until next time, Anamni Gupta and Arushi Bhaskar
