Daily briefing: Row over ex-Twitter boss claims; pre-poll violence in West Bengal; MP school under demolition shadow and more
In today’s edition: Row over ex-Twitter boss claims; pre-poll violence in West Bengal; MP school under demolition shadow; ad-vantage for Shinde’s Sena; and more
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🚨 Big Story
🔴 Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey’s allegations that the Indian government threatened to shut down the microblogging site during the farmers protest have triggered a political storm.
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Dorsey’s allegations drew sharp criticism from the Centre, which termed his claims an “outright lie”. The Opposition, meanwhile, targeted the government, asking it to stop “suppressing” social media platforms.
🔴 However, the platform is no stranger to controversy in the country. From a Dorsey photograph holding a poster that read “Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy” to new CEO Elon Musk’s line on Indian regulations, here’s a rundown of the complicated relationship.
⚡ Only in the Express
“Hum yahin padenge, hum yahin padenge (we will study here),” said a weeping Alfiya (10), standing near the police barricades to her school in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district. The school and its students stare at an uncertain future, with the municipal authority threatening to demolish parts of it. The school has been embroiled in a row over allegations that it had forced girl students to wear a headscarf.
📰 From the Front Page
👉🏽 With violence ensuing in West Bengal ahead of the panchayat polls, the BJP and Congress have found themselves on the same page. The Calcutta High Court Tuesday ordered the deployment of Central forces in the state, and asked the election body to consider extending the deadline to file nominations. Both these demands were part of the separate petitions filed by the BJP and Congress leaders.
👉🏽 A full-page advertisement appeared across all newspapers citing a survey that puts Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde ahead of Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in popularity. While the Shinde-led Sena distanced itself from the ad, this comes at a time when the two wary allies– Shiv Sena and BJP– are gearing up for seat-sharing talks.
👩🏽💻 Must Read
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In a stark contrast from five years ago, Tamil Nadu, a state which has strongly opposed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), achieved its highest-ever tally in the top 50 positions of the exam, producing the country topper, and emerging as the state with the third-highest number of achievers.
✍️ In today’s Opinion section, Anindya Chatterjee writes on why despite important concerns about lack of interest in core engineering among graduates, there is a global scenario which presents an opportunity for young Indians. “India’s next generation might well aspire to core engineering as a rewarding career plan,” he writes.
Seven years after 2016, El Niño is back in the Pacific Ocean, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States federal administration said last week. We explain the phenomena of El Nino and La Nina, and why these events over the far-away Pacific influence rainfall over India.
A mason’s daughter with no sports background, a makeshift high jump pit made up of sacks of hay, a bamboo stick held in place by weights for a bar, and a school physical education teacher.”It is her explosiveness that helps us get so much height,” says her coach. Read the story of Pooja, who recently won a silver at the Asian U-20 championship.
⏱️And Finally…
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A Catch-22 situation: The Indian Navy’s Barasingha, a boat roped in to help clean and dredge the Yamuna in Delhi, is stuck in the same muck it was supposed to get rid of. Here’s what’s happening.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has found himself in a controversy yet again after the UK edition of his book — B R Ambedkar: The Man Who Gave Hopes to India’s Dispossessed — came out with an incorrect map. Read in today’s Delhi confidential!
🎧 In today’s episode of ‘3 Things’ podcast, we speak about the changing patterns of terror in Jammu and Kashmir, a new free bus ride scheme in Karnataka, and the political row of Jack Dorsey’s comments.
Sonal Gupta is a Deputy Copy Editor on the news desk. She writes feature stories and explainers on a wide range of topics from art and culture to international affairs. She also curates the Morning Expresso, a daily briefing of top stories of the day, which won gold in the ‘best newsletter’ category at the WAN-IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023. She also edits our newly-launched pop culture section, Fresh Take.
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