5 min readNew DelhiAug 29, 2022 08:49 AM IST
First published on: Aug 29, 2022 at 08:49 AM IST
Good morning,
The Big Story
On October 19, the Congress will likely get a new party chief after elections are being held for the post for the first time in 21 years. At least by October 8 we will know who will be contesting as it is the last date for withdrawing of nominations and the election, if there is more than one candidate, will take place on October 17. However, at the Congress Working Committee meeting held to discuss the election schedule, a senior leader questioned the sanctity of the process of electing 9,000-odd delegates who will vote in the party chief election.
Only in The Express
In this edition of The Indian Express’s Idea Exchange, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Thakur spoke about AAP and its contentious excise policy, consolidation of corporate power in the media, and dynasty politics.
From the front page
Gone in 12 seconds. That was all it took for the Supertech twin towers in Noida to turn into a huge pile of rubble. A cloud of dust engulfed the area for several minutes after nearly 3,700 kg of explosives were used to bring down the towers. What next? Clearing 80,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste.
“Hardik Pandya is the world’s best allrounder at the moment,” Wasim Akram raved on the night Hardik beat Pakistan with a stunning performance with the bat and the ball. All the usual Hardik signposts were visible: With the ball, the confidence to use the bouncer liberally, the hard lengths he is most comfortable with. With the bat, the careful deliberate positioning of the body and the areas he accesses and the eerie calmness, right till the end.
Must Read
In the cross-border cattle smuggling case that has major political implications in West Bengal, the findings detailed by the CBI in its third supplementary chargesheet include TMC leader Anubrata Mondal’s alleged links to the racket’s “kingpin” through a personal security guard, a handwritten diary that provided key leads, “backdated fake bills” — and a partner gone missing.
The Woodburn Block in the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata is the first stop for “ailing” politicians, particularly those one step away from detention. With its rooms furnished with refrigerators and LED TVs, this VVIP wing is far-removed from the rest of the multi-speciality institute, with long queues of patients waiting to be attended and harried staff struggling to keep up. In the past few years, almost all members of the ruling Trinamool Congress facing cases have landed up here.
Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district, located to the north of the capital city of Chennai, has long been notorious for the prevalence of bonded labour. Now, around a hundred emancipated labourers and their families are shaping their own future — by co-owning and operating a brick kiln, launched three months ago by the district administration.
The Supreme Court on August 25 issued a notice in a petition challenging the remission of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. Indira Jaising raises the question of whether the communal violence that took place in Gujarat in 2002 was “spontaneous” or if it was waiting to happen through the systemic degradation of the ecosystem due to the long-term build-up of hate speech against the minority community.
Pakistan is facing one of the worst floods in its recent history. Reports say about 110 of the 150 districts in the country are affected by the flooding. Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Sunday that over 1,000 people were confirmed dead in the floods so far. In today’s explained, we talk about the impact of the deluge that is worse than the superflood of 2010 and the extreme rainfall in India.
And Finally
On the eve of Naseem Shah’s departure from Pakistan for the Asia Cup, his mentor and son of Abdul Qadir Sulieman Qadir told him, “Ab aapki zindagi ki udaan shuru hue hain. (The time has come now for you to fly high in your life!)” Not just mentors from home rave about him but one of the brainiest pacer of them all Andy Roberts too has been keeping a close eye on him.
Delhi Confidential: Like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also used to pen down poems – but he prefers to call himself an “admirer of words” not a poet. An English translation of his “innermost thoughts”, which he had jotted in his diary during his travels before he became the Prime Minister, has just been published. “Letters to Self” is translated from Gujarati by Bhawana Somaaya. The poems should not be equated to his position, but “reflects” his “feelings experienced” from his “little window of life”.
In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk about the war of words between Beijing and New Delhi after Qi Zhenhong, the Chinese ambassador wrote an article for a Sri Lankan newspaper alleging “thorough interference” into Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.
Until next time,
Leela Prasad and Srishti Kapoor
Top news on August 29, 2022 
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