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Journalism of Courage
Good morning,
The stage is set in Dubai, the city of countless possibilities, where the cricket teams of India and Pakistan will kick-start a new arrangement with the ICC Champions Trophy. After the Indian government’s refusal to send the team to Pakistan, which is the actual host with Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi splitting 9 matches among them, the rest of the fixtures involving India will take place in Dubai. “More than the players, it is the public who will miss out on the biggest fixture in cricket,” Mudassar Nazar, a Pakistan veteran shares. “There are millions who are waiting to see Kohli and Bumrah play in Lahore and they would spend big money to watch them in flesh. The soul of this contest is the fans–a neutral venue can never match that.”
With that, let’s move on to today’s edition:
🚨 Big Story
Nepal’s Parliament is furious. And not without reasons. A 20-year-old student from Nepal died by suicide in her hostel room on the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, triggering massive protests by students, many of them from the neighbouring country. Citing it as “outrageous and humiliating for Nepal,” Opposition members in the House are expressing outrage over the response of the KIIT authorities to the death of the student, and protesting students.
Action taken so far: This came even as police arrested five persons—three senior KIIT staff members and two security guards—for allegedly assaulting the agitating students on Monday. The government has taken cognizance of the matter and will ask KIIT authorities to act against all officials,” according to a senior government official. Two Nepal embassy officials will be reaching Bhubaneswar to discuss the issue with the local administration, police and agitating students.
Life cut short: The victim hailed from Nepal’s Kathmandu and was pursuing engineering at Odisha’s KIIT. The incident cut short a life that promised much, according to friends and family; she excelled in school and wanted to pursue a career in the IT industry to make her parents proud. On the personal front, they described her as an introvert who would not open up easily. The victim had flagged misbehaviour from the accused—a 21-year-old student from Lucknow who has been arrested—to the university but they did not act on it. The university claims the two, who were in a relationship, were counselled and let go.
⚡ Only in Express
The Supreme Court has granted interim protection from arrest in the FIRs registered against podcaster-influencer Ranveer Allahbadia for his “controversial” comments on the YouTube show, India’s Got Latent, hosted by comedian Samay Raina. The bench, however, imposed crucial conditions, including that Allahbadia or his associates cannot air any content on social media until further orders. Now, you might have questions as the order flies in the face of an SC judgment that said such a condition could have a “chilling effect on the freedom of speech”. We break them down here.
📰 From the Front Page
‘… my brother’: India and Qatar have decided to elevate their ties to a “strategic partnership”, double the target of bilateral trade to USD 28 billion in the next five years, and bring Qatari investment of USD 10 billion to India. This decision comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held talks in New Delhi on Tuesday. They also discussed exploring a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries, elevating ties while focusing on trade, investment and energy.
‘Won’t be completed even in the next 25 years’: The Supreme Court has granted bail to Christian Michel James in the corruption case registered by the CBI in connection with the multi-crore-rupees AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, citing delay in trial. James, one of the alleged middlemen in the deal for the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers, was extradited from the UAE in 2018 to stand trial in the case. He moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court denied him bail on September 25, 2024.
📌 Must Read
D-Day: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking at projecting the oath-taking ceremony of Delhi’s new Chief Minister and council of ministers—at Ramlila Maidan—as a joint front of the BJP-led NDA. Besides eminent party ministers, over 25,000 to 30,000 are expected to be in attendance, including community leaders from across the slum clusters in the Capital. A meeting of the legislature party, comprising its 48 MLAs, will be held around 7 pm on Wednesday where the names of the Chief Minister, six members of the council of ministers as well as those chosen for other significant roles such as that of the Speaker would be revealed.
In our Opinion section today, Suhas Palshikar delves on the embedded lessons for the Opposition as BJP emerges victorious in Delhi Assembly polls 2025, while AAP and the Congress trail in the race. He writes: “In particular, a spectacular gatecrashing is very rare. AAP was lucky that it took on a beleaguered Congress at a time when another challenger was already pushing it into a corner. The so-called anti-corruption agitation was converted into a national spectacle through full-time media exposure. It was almost as if civil society was taking charge of politics.”
In the Lok Sabha elections last year, 12 of Punjab’s 13 Parliamentary constituencies were among the top 50 seats in terms of total candidate expenditure, data from the Election Commission’s recently published Atlas of the general elections showed. All of the top five seats for overall candidate expenditure were in Punjab. There could be several factors why the spending is high in these Punjab constituencies — from candidates with a business background, such as real estate or liquor, that forces others to spend to the high number of parties in the fray. Take a look at the numbers.
⏳ And Finally…
Chasing the ‘Great American Dream’: The 127 illegal immigrants from Punjab paid over Rs 43 crore to the travel agents to chase the American dream, only to be handcuffed, chained, and bundled back home by the US authorities, as per a document compiled by state government officials. The 127 Punjabis were among the 332 Indians deported by the US in three batches in military aircraft that landed in Amritsar on February 5, 15, and 16.
In today’s episode of our 3 Things podcast, we delve deeper into The Indian Express investigation, conducted in collaboration with CBC News, to track Simran Preet Panesar, one of the key figures in Canada’s biggest gold heist. We also discuss space mission technologies developed by ISRO that can be utilized in everyday life. And lastly, we talk about Ranveer Allahbadia’s Supreme Court plea hearing and what the apex court had to say about his ‘obscene’ remarks.
That’s all for today.
Until next time,
Ariba
