Daily Briefing: Oppn-BJP standoff intensifies in Parliament; race to decode Indus script

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

• Bills passed without debate in Parliament
• Air India pilot tests positive for marijuana
• Ink that inspires India’s hockey players

🚨 Big Story

The government is ready to send the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). This comes as the Opposition continued to demand the withdrawal of the Bill and civil society and religious bodies, especially the Church, expressed concern that its asset-vesting rules could be used to penalise past investments. Many Church bodies also voiced their fears in meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the past few days. Sources said the government’s willingness to refer it to a JPC could provide a way out of the standoff inside and outside Parliament – the monsoon session is due to end August 13.

Ruckus: The impasse in Parliament continued on Tuesday, with two Bills being passed without debate. And the face-off between the ruling alliance and the Opposition shifted to the steps outside the Makar Dwar. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen exchanging words with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs who were protesting against the violence on students in Jharkhand. Meanwhile, the Opposition held a demonstration nearby against the alleged theft of donation funds at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and demanded a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the police crackdown on protesters in Delhi on July 20.

⚡ Only in Express

Code crackers: Over a year after the Tamil Nadu government announced a $1 million reward for anyone who decoded the Indus Valley script, many have turned to writing to Rajesh P N Rao – a Seattle-based computer scientist who is arguably among the most public faces in a race to solve one of mankind’s most enduring mysteries. Currently, there are no mechanisms in place yet for claimants to register their ‘discovery.’ The government’s announcement followed a study by the Tamil Nadu’s Archaeology Department that claimed similarities between signs on Indus artefacts and graffiti marks recently unearthed at archaeological sites in the state, bringing the century-old puzzle back into academic and political debates. Joining Rao are science communication officer Nisha Yadav, computer scientist Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay, high school student from Washington DC, Louie Merriam, and other independent researchers, all with an aim to take the project ahead. Rao agrees that there needs to be genuine collaboration among epigraphers, historians and those using artificial intelligence (AI) and quantitative methods.

📰 From the Front Page

A threat letter posted online has warned Kashmiri Pandits working in the Kashmir Valley to “change their ways”, while publishing the details of some of them. This has led the Jammu and Kashmir government to instruct its departments to send Kashmiri Pandit employees on leave. The government has also asked them to remain alert and move to safer places. This letter came to light about a week after two migrant workers were killed at a brick kiln in south Kashmir’s Kulgam, putting the security establishment on high alert. According to police sources, the authenticity of the letter circulated online by a group called the United Liberation Council is being verified. The ULC could be another front of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

Mishap: A confirmatory drug test of the Air India pilot-in-command of a Phuket-Delhi flight that fell about 300 feet, leaving 24 people injured, has come in as positive for marijuana, according to sources. The test results came after the preliminary drug screening gave a “non-negative” result, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). The mishap was classified as serious and is under investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The government and the airline had initially attributed the incident to severe turbulence.

🤝 Strengthening their partnership, US space agency NASA has invited ISRO to join its Moon Base programme – the recently-launched effort to get humans back to the Moon with the larger objective of setting up a permanent settlement there. In 2023, India had joined the Artemis Accords, a US-led space alliance, whose purpose is to evolve and commit to a common set of principles that govern the civil exploration of outer space including the Moon. India was the 27th country to sign on the Artemis Accords. Now, a total of 70 countries are part of the Accords.

📌 Must Read

Delay: The Maharashtra government’s project to relocate a section of residents of Dharavi in Deonar – the site of the largest and oldest landfill in Mumbai – is stuck in a maze. With work yet to begin on clearing a portion of the 99-year-old landfill — it has raised fresh questions over the timeline for housing thousands of families on the Dharavi site. According to records obtained by The Indian Express, January 2026 was the original deadline for all approvals to be obtained and work to begin; however, five of the seven statutory clearances are pending. Now, Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL) has sought further time until October 30. Subsequently, the BMC extended the deadline again to September 30 while retaining the three-year completion timeline.

In our Opinion section today, C Raja Mohan delves into the United States president Donald Trump’s erratic policies that have led Saudis to watch squandering of the latter’s political capital. The Saudis do recognise the need to demonstrate, or approach other options, however weak. Focusing on the Mecca Accord, Mohan writes: “Vulnerable states across the Middle East are eager to diversify their defence partnerships and have long looked to a reluctant India. India’s military diplomacy in the region has gained some recent traction. But to be a credible security actor, Delhi needs to build the capabilities to project military power into the Middle East, in tandem with deeper political and security partnerships there.”

El Nino fears: The revival of the Southwest monsoon in July, in the face of strengthening El Niño, has helped narrow the gap in area sown under kharif crops this season as compared to last year’s coverage. Indian farmers had planted only 350.85 lakh hectares (lh) area in the current kharif (monsoon) season till July 6 – 20.8% below the 442.80 lh sown during the same period of 2025, according to data from the Agriculture Ministry. The above lag in sowings was courtesy of a poor start to the monsoon season (June-September). Rainfall during June for the country as a whole was 38% below the normal long-period average (LPA) for the month. My colleague Harish Damodaran explains the July turnaround here.

⏳ And Finally…

As India head into the hockey World Cup this weekend – facing Wales in the opener on Saturday – most of the focus would be on their tactics, form and the players expected to deliver when the pressure is at its highest. However, beneath their jerseys, they carry something more personal – little reminders inked into their skin of where they come from, what they believe in and, sometimes, who they believe they are. Each of these tattoos tells a story. For Manpreet Singh, India’s most-capped player, the ‘Ik Onkar’ on his arm is an expression of faith. The incomplete Olympic rings on Hardik Singh, India’s most influential player on the field, represent an ambition still unfinished. The top part of the centre ring, he says, will be completed after “winning the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028”.

🎧 Lastly, don’t forget to tune in to today’s episode of our 3 Things podcast, where we discuss the fee being introduced on merchants on UPI and certain RuPay debit card transactions; Air India mishap where the flight suddenly lost 300 feet in altitude, injuring 17 people last week; and more.

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

Until next time,
Ariba

Business As Usual by E P Unny