Good morning, In today’s edition: The Patna power shift and what’s next; India’s first talks with NATO; no caps on domestic airfare; and more Big Story With JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar taking oath as Bihar's Chief Minister — this time with the Mahagathbandhan — political equations have been turned on their head. 🔴 Nitish's political trapeze is pushing the narrative that the BJP is friendless — or without allies — and is out to finish all other parties. But can the Opposition find a common thread against the BJP for the 2024 elections? Can Nitish be the face it agrees on to challenge Narendra Modi? We explain. 🔴 Speaking on what's ahead for the BJP, party MP Sushil Kumar Modi told The Indian Express, "Every party tries to look for new allies. We will also do so at the right time. It is not proper to name any party or leader who could be our allies in future." 🔴 Meanwhile, the BJP appointed Sunil Bansal, who played a key role in the party’s victories in Uttar Pradesh since 2014, as national secretary in charge of West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana — three Opposition-governed states the party is paying special focus on for 2024. Only in the Express Away from public glare, India held its first political dialogue with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Brussels on December 12, 2019, The Indian Express has learnt. With these talks, New Delhi realised it did not share a common ground with the grouping on Russia and the Taliban. With NATO’s views on China also mixed, India’s Quad membership is aimed at countering Beijing. From the Front Page The upper and lower limits on airfares, which were put in place during the Covid pandemic to prevent fare war among airlines and protect passengers from paying high prices, will be removed with effect from August 31, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said. A Supreme Court-appointed panel has accused former Indian football chief and NCP leader Praful Patel of "impliedly” admitting to having “arranged” a letter from world football governing body FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) threatening a ban on India. The panel has filed a contempt petition against Patel and seven other Indian football administrators in the apex court. Must Read In a first, the Delhi Police used the Facial Recognition System (FRS) to arrest and “confirm” the presence of several accused at the site of the Jahangirpuri riots that took place four months ago — and the images will be presented as evidence in court. Of the 37 chargesheeted, over 25 accused have been produced so far at the Forensic Science Lab in Rohini to match CCTV visuals using FRS, The Indian Express has learnt. Data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on rapes in the country, specifically “murder with rape/ gangrape’’, do not conclusively point to an increasing trend of rapists killing their victims to eliminate evidence, as suggested by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Investigations into the communal murders in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada and Mangaluru between July 20 and July 28 indicate a pattern similar to that seen in 20 murders in Karnataka over the last decade. As many as nine murders were tit-for-tat killings, while all involve local gangsters with affiliations to either right-wing Hindutva fringe groups, or the radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India. Microsoft has become the first big tech company to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government-backed project which is aimed at enabling small merchants and mom-and-pop stores in parts of the country to access processes and technologies that are typically deployed by large e-commerce platforms. We take a look at what is ONDC, how it works and what issues it addresses. And Finally… Annu Rani, even before she bagged the Commonwealth Games bronze on Sunday, is India’s best female javelin thrower by a huge distance. No other thrower has disturbed the national record book since 2014. To reach Bahadurpur, a village of 400 families, one has to weave through endless fields of sugarcane. It is at one of these fields that Annu Rani first learnt the art of throwing, not with a javelin but with a cane. Delhi Confidential: His party may not be giving him responsibilities to match his astuteness and popularity, but Congress MP Shashi Tharoor seems to be getting all the recognition outside India. The French government is honouring him with its highest honour, ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur’, for his writings and speeches. Until next time, Sonal Gupta and Srishti Kapoor
