Daily Briefing: EC cites ‘logical discrepancy’ to delete voters in Bengal, debate intensifies

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

• Gulf countries ramp up infra
• EC’s ‘logical discrepancy’ defies logic
• Golf swings in cricket

🚨 Big Story

As Tehran weaponises the Strait of Hormuz, jeopardising global oil and gas flows, countries in the Gulf region, led by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, are hoping to ramp up infrastructure over the next few years, and reduce their dependence and vulnerability on the key chokepoint. The West Asia war has provided a perfect reason for Gulf states to collaborate and coordinate for revitalising old pipelines and building new ones. Early efforts may already be underway to do just that.

Impact: With the largest supply disruption in the history of global oil markets underway, it is important to focus on one of the key stresses that emerge from the crisis: how the $117 trillion global economy can be held hostage to a 50-kilometre stretch of waterway being commandeered by a few hundred men with guns. Over the past few months of the crisis, the energy consumption patterns across the globe have already witnessed a change. For instance, a trend of using more coal over natural gas, and a push towards renewables, is already visible in Asia. Here’s how countries are changing their energy reliance.

⚡ Only in Express

Many in West Bengal have their names in the 2002 electoral roll – a key pre-condition set by the Election Commission – and yet they have been rendered ineligible to vote in the upcoming Assembly elections. Moreover, the EC has categorised them as entries with a “logical discrepancy” — a criterion never used at this scale in the past. EC’s algorithm has narrowed down 1.36 crore names in total as “logical discrepancies”, of which 60.06 lakh were placed under adjudication, with the rest disposed of in the notice period. Of these 60.06 lakh, 27.10 lakh were deleted after adjudication. A few former chief election commissioners (CECs) and ex-ECs have called it “unprecedented”. And, the EC itself has been silent on it. We track down such voters mapped to the 2002 roll, but can’t vote this time.

📰 From the Front Page

A special bond: The relationship between Hindus and Muslims in Tamil Nadu’s Thiruparankundram can be described by the colloquial phrase, “mama-machan” (a reference to close bonding). And it is likely to stay that way, many with shops overlooking the Murugan temple in the temple town near Madurai express. This special bond exists even though just a few months ago, the town was mentioned in national newspapers over a religious dispute. Yes, this is the same city where a century-old property disagreement between the temple and the dargah took place, following a court order. Ahead of the Assembly elections, the tension is not visible on the ground and police presence has reduced.

A downgrade: In a significant move that could impact India’s bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) Board, has downgraded the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), after flagging concerns over the “extremely high” doping risk among athletes in the country. It means India’s track and field athletes will now have to comply with more stringent anti-doping stipulations, with national team members undergoing tests prior to major championships. The setback comes at a time when India is preparing to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Asian Games in Japan.

Your K-pop dreams now might come true! India and South Korea have decided to restart negotiations to upgrade the trade pact, signing agreements on digital cooperation in AI, small and medium enterprises, sports, and culture, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the visiting President of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung. Besides agreeing to a joint strategic vision to strengthen their partnership, Lee said they will launch the Mumbai Korea Centre as a permanent K-pop performance hall and international hub of K culture – venue for K-pop and Bollywood to meet and create new cultural collaborations.

📌 Must Read

‘Hard reset’: A year since the Pahalgam terror attack, the security apparatus in Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a “hard reset.” The Army is scouring the dense forests more aggressively, and the J&K police is setting up elite counterinsurgency units trained in high altitude and jungle warfare. The strategy has changed from defence to preemption and offence, all attempts pointing to an undeniable fact: Pahalgam was the last big militant attack in J&K. The security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir have also adopted better coordination between different forces operating on the ground and the intelligence agencies.

In our Opinion section today, Himanshu closely looks at the data on rise of living costs and stagnant wages for workers in Noida who came out in large numbers to protest last week. Underlining that the crisis is likely to spill over to other areas affected by global uncertainty, Himanshu writes: “While the government may be in a position to regulate and control prices in the short run, a long-term solution for the crisis requires interventions to raise workers’ incomes, which have stagnated for a long time. It may also require the government to intervene and regulate working conditions.”

⏳ And Finally…

Golf swings are reshaping the way cricket’s biggest hitters train, with the two sports having more in common that you can think of. My colleague Nihal Koshie speaks to Kapil Dev, who, besides being a cricket champion, is currently the president of the Professional Golf Tour of India. Dev shares: “Had I played golf when playing cricket, I would have scored another 2,000 runs minimum. Because it improves focus, coordination and timing. I don’t have words to express the amount of pleasure golf has given me.”

🎧 Lastly, don’t forget to tune in to today’s episode of our 3 Things podcast, where we discuss the Express Investigation on how a life-saving drug against cancer, Keytruda, remains out of reach for many patients, and how regulatory gaps have allowed counterfeited versions of the drug enter the market.

That’s all for today. Have a wonderful day!

Until next time,
Ariba

Business As Usual by E P Unny