Good morning, Dingucha, a village in Gujarat, is better known as the home of the family that froze to death during a blizzard on Canada’s border with the United States while attempting to cross over illegally. The village is back in the spotlight, with a US court holding two men — “Dirty Harry” from Gujarat, and Florida’s Steve Shand — guilty of “a conspiracy to bring aliens to the US” and putting their lives in jeopardy. While some villagers call it, “unnecessary attention,” for others, the US has become a trigger word. With that, let’s move on to today’s edition: 75th anniversary of the Indian Constitution Bribery charges on Azure Power PAN 2.0 🚨 Big Story President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of both Houses of the Parliament to mark 75 years of the Constitution. The President will also release a commemorative coin, a stamp, and three books on the Constitution to commemorate the occasion. On Monday, Opposition leaders wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to allow their members in both Houses to speak during the function.This was met with accusations that “some of the Opposition parties” were giving reactions without knowing the actual arrangement. ‘Secular’, ‘Socialist’ is here to stay: What comes as a remarkable judgment on the eve of Constitution Day, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 42nd amendment by which the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ were added to the Preamble of the Constitution. The apex court underlined that “these terms have achieved widespread acceptance, with their meanings understood by ‘We, the people of India’ without any semblance of doubt”. The Consensus Republic: C Raj Kumar sheds light on the importance of reflecting on the Constituent Assembly’s remarkable efforts in drafting the Constitution as a consensus document. Can this be mirrored in today’s era of ideological differences? He writes: “The last two decades of the evolution of parliamentary democracy (2004-24) in India should be carefully examined to understand and appreciate the need for reimagining the culture of democratic engagement in Parliament. This is a moment of introspection for all members of Parliament.” ⚡ Only in Express Documents in the dataset of the Paradise Papers — a global consortium on offshore finance done by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), The Indian Express and 95 other media partners — reveal how Azure Power Global Limited was incorporated in Mauritius in the year 2015; subsequently got listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and had pledged to comply with US laws and regulations. What’s striking is that the executives of Azure Power’s dominant shareholding company have been charged for allegedly offering Rs 2,029 crore in bribes to Indian government officials to secure “lucrative solar energy supply contracts.” “Yet I simply cannot fathom the tsunami-like scale of this victory. Neither the political common sense nor the technical political science helps me make sense of the final outcome of this race. I cannot but ask: Was the winner on steroids?” In our Opinion pages today, Yogendra Yadav delves into what went behind the jaw-dropping victory of BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra, the dramatic turnaround, and the disappearance of all the known patterns of state politics. 📰 From the Front Page Calling it a day: It was the first day of the Parliament Winter Session on Monday. Just an hour after convening, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned till Wednesday. The call by the presiding officers came after they rejected demands from Opposition MPs to discuss alleged bribery charges by the US on the Adani Group. In his customary remarks to the media earlier that morning,, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hit out at the Opposition and said those who had “not been accepted by people” were trying to disrupt parliamentary proceedings. PAN 2.0: Our Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards are set to be revamped. On Monday, the Union Cabinet approved an upgrade with a QR code feature on PAN cards. It will be free of cost for all existing PAN holders. This project by the Income Tax Department came along with a proposal to make PAN “the common identifier for businesses”. 📌 Must Read Out of control: Four people died in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district during the violence which erupted after a survey team showed up at a prominent mosque in the area on Sunday. Several stakeholders in the know indicated that authorities were aware that tensions could escalate, but failed to assess that the situation could spiral quickly, The Indian Express has learnt. The issue began after a priest moved an application claiming that a temple once stood at the mosque’s site. Still many protesters who were part of the clashes with the police stayed put at the site believing rumours of digging going on at the mosque. Not ‘good’ news: Delhi has not had a single ‘good’ air quality day this year. Now, a ‘good’ air day is when the air quality index (AQI) is below 50, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), With the current pollution levels and the air quality fluctuating between ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ so far this month, it is unlikely the Capital will have a good day before next year. The last time such a year was had was in 2018. ⏳ And Finally. Youth must be served: Nothing went against the script on the final Test day at Perth, with India downing Australia, overnight on 12 for 3, for 238. Everything that India wished went in their favour with the youngsters showing they belonged: be it Harshit Rana’s game-turning moment, Nitish Reddy’s innings which allowed Virat Kohli the room to not worry about doing it on his own, and Dhruv Jurel’s catch of the game with a stunning reflex pouch. In today’s special episode of our 3 Things podcast, historian Ramachandra Guha joins us to discuss his latest book, Speaking with Nature which sheds light on India’s early environmentalists. Their fascinating stories reveal how environmentalism in India evolved in a distinctly different way from the Western models prevalent today. Enjoy! That’s all for today. Ariba and Vibha B Madhava
