Daily Briefing: India adds another jewel to its cricketing crown; Budget session to resume today; Trump to renegotiate nuclear deal

With that, let’s move on to today’s edition:

• Stage set for a stormy Budget session
• Industry pushback against govt advisory seeking nod for AI services
• Delimitation, 50 years ago

🚨 Big Story

A fiery beginning: The stage is set for the second half of Parliament’s Budget session, scheduled to begin on Monday, with the Opposition gearing up to target the government by raising burning issues, ranging from delimitation and three-language formula policy, Manipur violence, to the US trade tariffs and alleged manipulation of electoral rolls. There will likely be a showdown over the contentious Waqf Amendment Bill, which the Union Cabinet has cleared for introduction in Parliament.

⚡ Only in Express

“I am not saying India is there to moderate, but if we are anywhere in the world in need of a big weight in a country, India is the first choice. European politicians should consider India more for the solution of future problems in the world.”

In our latest episode of Idea Exchange, former German Ambassador to India Walter J Lindner sits down with The Indian Express’ Diplomatic Editor, Shubhajit Roy, sharing his experience of meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, discusses the rise of the far-Right all over the world and how India has a significant seat at the world table.

India’s tech industry had raised concerns privately regarding the IT Ministry’s advisory, which required artificial intelligence (AI) platforms to seek government permission before launching “under-testing, unreliable” services, according to correspondence reviewed by The Indian Express as part of a Right to Information (RTI) application.

Here are the three demands that the companies put forth within a week of the advisory, which led the government to roll it back:

• Relax applicability norms to limit the scope of the advisory
• Remove the contentious requirement for AI companies to seek government permission
• Drop the need for companies to prepare an action taken and status report on account of compliance

📰 From the Front Page

Finally, on the 16th day of the search for the eight men trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Telangana, rescuers on Sunday recovered the body of one of them. He was identified as Gurpreet Singh from Tarn Taran in Punjab. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has announced ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh to his family. The man’s body was found near the broken tunnel boring machine that was being used to excavate the tunnel.

Months after 35-year-old Rakesh and his excavator were buried under 60 feet of mud and rubble at the site of a water supply project in Palghar’s Navghar area, over 1,600 kilometres away, at Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Rakesh’s family carried out his last rites. With no body in sight, the closure came in the form of a five-foot-something cast made of atta and a garlanded photograph of Rakesh Yadav placed on a bamboo frame. However, the wait continues — this time, for a death certificate.

📌 Must Read

US President Donald Trump last week said that he had written to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei about renegotiating a nuclear deal. The Obama-era deal, popularly known as the Iran nuclear deal, provided Iran with sanctions relief in return for Tehran severely limiting the scope of its nuclear program. When Trump came to power, he had withdrawn the US from the deal in 2018. How has the deal fared since then? What has triggered Trump’s turnaround now? We explain.

“Two budgets later, there is still no clear articulation of a strategy to address the issues plaguing the economy. Nor is there a clear roadmap of how the country will transition…”

It’s almost one year into the BJP-led government’s third term. Ishan Bakshi raises a question: What is Modi 3.0’s economic strategy? He also writes about two potential focus areas: agreements with the US, EU and the UK, and deregulation.

⏳ And Finally…

Delimitation storm: Unease in the South over delimitation continues with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin against the population-based exercise over fears of losing out on Lok Sabha seats. Now, he is arguing for the 1971 Census, which gave the state 39 seats, to be retained even if the maximum strength of the Lower House is increased. The 1971 formula followed intense debates in Parliament under the then Indira Gandhi-led Congress government, which raised the cap on the maximum Lok Sabha seats.

🎧 Lastly, don’t forget to tune in to today’s episode of our 3 Things podcast, where we discuss the concerns raised over the structural integrity of the Telangana tunnel, a viral video that has sparked concerns about women’s roles in local governance, as well as talk about the BAPS Hindu temple, vandalised in the US.

That’s all for today.

Until next time,
Ariba

Business As Usual by E P Unny