Daily Briefing: No-trust debate in Parliament; latest on Manipur violence; and more

Setting off the debate on no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, the Opposition on Tuesday used the grand stage to corner the government on issues ranging from Manipur violence to the unresolved border with China, price rise, unemployment, the handling of the economy, misuse of investigative agencies, assault on federalism, safety of women, wrestlers’ protests, farmers’ agitation, privatisation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was not in the House during the debate, however assured MPs from his party that it is not a test of trust on his government, but on the confidence INDIA alliance partners have on each other.

Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, took the Congress and his Lok Sabha colleagues by surprise when he declined to initiate the discussion on the no-confidence motion in the Lower House at the last minute.

⚡Only in Express

Tribal children in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district are forced to swim across a river infested with snakes, occasionally crocodiles, to attend school. Their parents, who swam to school before them, say the demand for a bridge has gone unheard since the 1980s

 A day after the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police sought information from the public to unearth “the larger conspiracy behind the murder of Retired Judge, Neelkanth Ganjoo” on November 4, 1989, his daughter, Urmila Raina, welcomed the decision, but said the family had no new information to share.

📰 From the Front Page

👉🏼 Manipur Police have registered a suo motu FIR against personnel of the Assam Rifles, accusing them of obstructing Bishnupur police personnel during violence that rocked the town of Kwakta on August 6. A video of a heated exchange between the police and AR personnel had earlier come to light.

👉🏼 A recent study published in The Lancet shows improved nutrition can reduce the incidence of all forms of tuberculosis by up to 40 per cent among those in contact with patients. Early weight gain among underweight patients with TB could reduce risk of mortality by up to 60 per cent, findings show.

👩‍💻 Must Read

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has found some irregularities in the registration and validation of beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat- Prime Minister Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY). Nearly 7.5 lakh beneficiaries were linked with a single cellphone number — 9999999999.

In our Opinion section today, Avijit Pathak writes on the arrest of a teacher on charges of hurting religious sentiments: “When the politics of hyper-nationalism with the aggression of religious identity enters our schools, colleges and universities, everything changes… The result is the absence of critical pedagogy; and what prevails is an environment of fear, suspicion, and surveillance.”

🚀🌕 The moon is bracing to deal with a crowd in a few days’ time. India’s Chandrayaan-3, Russia’s Luna 25 spacecraft and Japan’s SLIM are all expected to knock on its doors this August. The motivations and purposes of the current rush to the moon, however, are very different from the Cold War era competition. Amitabh Sinha explains.

⭐ Bonus read: With Independence Day just around the corner, dive into our research on how Kashmir fared before and after August 15, 1947. Back then, Jammu and Kashmir had not yet acceded to either India or Pakistan. In this atmosphere of uncertainty, there was hardly anyone who celebrated Independence in Kashmir.

⌛ And Finally…

🏏 The Indian cricket board has done its bit for the fitness of parliamentarians. The country’s richest sporting body has donated Rs 2.25 crore for gym equipment at the Capital’s ‘MPs only” Constitution Club of India (CCI).

Delhi Confidential: During the voting on the Delhi Services Bill in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the JD(U) had issued a whip for Deputy Chairman Harivansh to cast his vote as a party MP. This posed a dilemma for Harivansh. Read how Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar resolved it.🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk about the alleged gangrape and murder of a minor in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara. We also discuss the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, and how a new court in a remote area in Maharashtra is making justice more accessible.

Until next time,

Anamni Gupta and Sonal Gupta