Daily Briefing: A farewell to Ratan Tata; the EVM saga continues; Navy gets a boost; and more

Coalition Veteran: N Chandrababu Naidu has emerged as an important figure in national politics since becoming an integral part of the coalition that helped BJP return to power for a third time in 2024. A veteran of coalition politics, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, in his first interview to a newspaper, spoke with The Indian Express for over 90 minutes on a host of topics, ranging from the lessons he learnt since he first fought elections in 1978 to welfare and revdi politics and ideological differences with the BJP.

📰From the Front Page

Another day, another dispute: The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government and the bureaucrats of the National Capital are at loggerheads again, this time over the Chief Minister’s residence. Two days after she moved into the Civil Lines bungalow earlier occupied by her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi was asked to vacate the premises by officials of the Public Works Department. The episode marks a sharp escalation in the row around the CM’s residence — while the Aam Aadmi Party claims Atishi moved in after taking care of formalities, the PWD says an official “handover” of the property from Kejriwal to the department is yet to take place.

Elections and EVMs: The saga over electronic voting machines (EVM) continues, this time in the shape of a war of words between the Election Commission and the Congress. Since the BJP’s dramatic turnaround in Haryana, the Congress has been alleging “manipulation” of EVMs, saying that the BJP won on EVMs with 99 per cent battery, while the Congress won on EVMs with 60-70 per cent battery, and this could not be a coincidence. The poll body, however, has rubbished the charges, calling it “undemocratic rejection of the will of the people”.

Once bitten, twice shy: Following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, many predicted that Omar Abdullah’s run in politics was nearing an end. He, too, felt that it was a huge setback. A few months later, he led the National Conference to victory in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections and now is on the cusp of becoming the Chief Minister, too. In an interview with The Indian Express, he speaks on various issues, ranging from takeaways from the poll outcome to his party’s roadmap ahead.

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Of a tragic past: In the late 1980s, an 18-year-old Roop Kanwar had married Maal Singh. But their marriage was short-lived after Singh died of an illness some months later. In a tragic consequence, marking what would be India’s last known case of sati, Roop Kanwar is said to have sat on her husband’s funeral pyre in 1987. Thirty seven years later, eight people who were initially accused of glorifying Roop’s death, were acquitted by a Jaipur court.

A deal is struck: In a boost to India’s defence forces, the Centre has cleared major deals for building nuclear submarines and buying 31 predator drones from the United States. Officials who spoke to The Indian Express say that the Navy will get the nuclear-powered attack submarines, significantly enhancing its might in the Indian Ocean Region.

“The BJP strategists were smart enough to see an opportunity in adversity… by all accounts, they went about executing their strategy meticulously.”

In the latest edition of his column ‘Deshkaal’, Yogendra Yadav sheds light on how the ball turned on Haryana’s field, and why strategic disparities between Congress and the BJP brought the electoral match down to the last over.

Deciphering proteins using AI: We’re still trying to understand the basic structures that make up life, and this year’s Nobel Prize too, honoured such research. But this award was slightly different from other ones. The three recipients of the Chemistry Nobel were honoured not for presenting any new insights on life-sustaining proteins, but for developing tools that make it easier and quicker to decipher them – and that’s not all, for even making entirely new ones.

⌛And Finally…

‘After fumbles, India rumble’: Sure, it took a couple of matches for India to warm up to the conditions at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, but they seem to have found their rhythm. On Wednesday, the team managed to fashion their most complete win by a massive margin of 83 runs. Leading the way were their two leaders—vice captain Smriti Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur.

In the latest episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss how a robbery in UP has sparked a political slugfest and a case involving the inheritance of cryogenically preserved sperm. In the final segment, Avaneesh Mishra shares the story of two mountaineers who were rescued after being stranded for over 60 harrowing hours. Tune in!

That’s all for today. Until next time,

Rounak Bagchi and Ayesha Jain