Daily Briefing: PM Modi’s longest-ever Independence Day speech and Oppn’s fury

With that, let’s move on to the top 5 stories from today’s edition:

🚨 Big Story

Setting a new record for the longest Independence Day address since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday highlighted the “threat” of infiltration or illegal immigration and announced a mission to check “demographic change”, flagged self-reliance as the path to development and prosperity while urging the youth to come forward with innovative ideas to power the change. In his 103-minute speech, he also praised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as well as signalled his intent to stand up like “a wall” to protect the interests of farmers and fishermen amid the stuttering trade talks with the United States. Here are the excerpts.

‘Demographic Mission’: PM Modi’s announcement of his government setting up a “demographic mission” to study population changes has brought into sharp focus the long-held concerns of the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS, over demographic shifts in the country. Deeptiman Tiwary explains how the Mission aligns with their narratives: “For years, the BJP and RSS have linked the issue to infiltration from neighbouring countries, religious conversion, and differential fertility rates among communities — framing it as a challenge with national security, political, and socio-cultural dimensions.”

Reacting to the announcement, the Opposition came down heavily on the PM for politicising his speech, in order to appease the RSS. Terming it as “stale, hypocritical, insipid, and troubling”, with the “same recycled slogans”, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “This politicisation of Independence Day for personal and organisational gain is deeply corrosive to our democratic ethos.” Here’s how the Opposition reacted.

In defence: PM announced the launch of Mission Sudarshan Chakra, an advanced, multi-tiered air defence system, aimed at creating a nationwide security shield to thwart enemy attacks across domains and strengthen the country’s deterrent and offensive capabilities. He also hailed Operation Sindoor, saying that strategic autonomy and indigenous capabilities are essential to decisively tackling threats, making self-reliance the bedrock of national strength, dignity and the journey to a developed India by 2047.

On the economic front, Modi announced reforms to boost consumption, with lower GST rates on goods, presenting it as a “Diwali gift” to the common man, small entrepreneurs and MSMEs. Likely to come into effect by October, the next-gen GST reforms would mark a significant change in its design eight years after its rollout.

⚡ Only in Express

“It’s almost as if my orchard never existed. The orchard was my family’s only source of income. I don’t even have photos of the 300 trees I had…”

Birodh Singh’s words echo what many in Dharali have experienced over the past two weeks as tides of mud and debris swallowed humans, mules, houses and hotels, and, with these, the very memory of the village. Nearly ten days after Dharali was struck by flash floods, rescuers of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) continue to look for remains of the people and places that made up the village. From apple orchard owners, local families, tourists, childhood friends, to migrant workers, the village now holds stories of loss, pain, suffering, and little hope.

💡 Express Explained

At least 65 people have been killed after torrential rains triggered a flash flood at Chasoti, the last motorable village, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district. Even as experts hesitate to attribute a single extreme weather event solely to climate change, they point out that flash floods and wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense due to the global rise in temperatures and changes in weather patterns. Here are the several factors that explain the occurrence of extreme weather events in J&K.

✍️ Express Opinion

In our Opinion section today, Alok Prasanna Kumar draws parallels between the Supreme Court verdicts in the case of Bihar SIR now, and that of Lal Babu Hussain in 1995, suggesting that the “relationship between the ECI and the SC has been one of institutional bonhomie.” Kumar writes, “The SC judges hearing the case, through their oral observations, do not seem convinced that the ECI is acting either unlawfully or in bad faith. Rather, they have tried to nudge the ECI along, pointing to its own commitment to transparency and fairness in the process.”

🍿 Movie Review

Wondering what to watch this weekend? We’ve got you covered! John Abraham-starrer Tehran, a compelling spy drama will leave you with a sense of what the business entails. Shubhra Gupta, in her review, writes: “It tells us that the Middle East has been on the boil for a long time: at this moment, an end doesn’t seem to be in sight, but after this incident, the warring nations have taken their dirty business off Indian soil. That’s what ‘Tehran’ leaves us with.”

That’s all for today. Have a lovely weekend!

Until next time,
Ariba

Business As Usual by E P Unny

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