Daily Briefing: US govt shuts down; who’s in Bihar’s final voter list?

On that note, let’s get to the rest of today’s edition. 👇

🚨 Big Story

The final voter list for Bihar is out, over three months after the Election Commission announced the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the poll-bound state. As many as 68.6 lakh names have been struck off, of which 65 lakh deletions were made in the draft roll itself.

The cut: Sources told The Indian Express that nearly 99 per cent of the deletions were due to death, permanent migration and duplication. This means a negligible percentage, if any, of foreigners were removed from the list. The EC is yet to disclose that figure. However, this flies in the face of the EC’s defence of SIR also as a citizenship verification drive.

Course correction: When SIR was announced in June, it was met with criticism for setting a high bar for inclusion. Breaking precedent, the EC had required voters to produce one of 11 documents to prove eligibility. Notably, Aadhaar, ration cards, and even its own Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) were not on the list. However, Supreme Court interventions and feedback from the field altered the exercise mid-process, ensuring more inclusion. We explain.

‘Failed’: Continuing their attack on the EC’s exercise, the Opposition parties have claimed that the SIR “served little purpose” and all it did “was expose the NDA government’s nefarious exclusionary tactics”. The parties have alleged that, given the short duration of the SIR process, the Block-Level Officers had to rush through the checks.

Also read: With only Aadhaar as ID, Patna driver recalls struggle to make it to voter list

🎧 For more on the Bihar voter list, tune in to today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode.

⚡Only in Express

Trump has given the Hamas militant group three to four days to accept the US-backed peace plan for Gaza. The proposal, which envisions a Trump-led ‘Board of Peace’ and a redeveloped ‘New Gaza’, was endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Though Hamas was not part of the negotiations, it has little choice but to accept the plan, given the growing anger among Palestinians, who have been suffering under Israel’s onslaught in the Gaza Strip.

Zoom in: The plan puts Trump in charge of the reconstruction of Gaza. It not only boosts his Nobel Peace Prize ambitions, but also helps ‘Trump the businessman’ with potential real estate opportunities in New Gaza. My colleague Shubhajit Roy explains the contours of the plan and what’s in it for Trump and India.

Pitfalls: Even if the plan finds unanimous support, our contributing editor on international affairs, C Raja Mohan, writes that implementation is “fraught with pitfalls”. “History shows that even determined peacemakers — armed with patience, legitimacy, and institutional support — struggle to overcome entrenched enmities. Trump brings none of these attributes.” Read on.

📰 From the Front Page

In the crosshairs: Sonam Wangchuk, a leading face of the protests demanding statehood for Ladakh, has caught the government’s ire. Last Friday, he was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). The Ladakh DGP has cited Wangchuk’s recent Islamabad visit to justify the “big question mark” on the activist’s “credibility”. However, Wangchuk wasn’t the only Indian expert to attend the Breathe Pakistan climate event. That’s not all. The man now branded a security threat was, until just last year, the Centre’s go-to advisor on issues ranging from climate and tourism to flagship events in Ladakh.

Don’t miss: Ladakh was one of the frontiers the BJP breached in 2014, getting its first MP in the region that year. But since then, there has been a consistent slide in the party’s gains. Party leaders speak to Liz Mathew about how the BJP and the Modi government failed to keep their promises to the UT.

Slow start: The Assam government launched an online portal in August as part of its scheme allowing “indigenous citizens” in the state’s “vulnerable and remote” areas to seek arms licenses. Since then, as many as 266 people have applied — most are from the two Muslim-majority districts of Nagaon and Dhubri. However, none have been accepted so far.

📌 Must Read

The one who lived: Those who have seen Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, now running in theatres, would be familiar with the heart-wrenching story of dreams, perseverance, and loss. Some may not know that the film was based on a New York Times article by Basharat Peer, who reported in-depth about an image that went viral during the Covid pandemic in May 2020 — of Mohammad Saiyub Siddiqui cradling his dying friend Amrit Prasad on the roads of Madhya Pradesh. Manish Sahu tracked down Saiyub and Prasad’s family, who are yet to watch the film, to see where they are today. Life seems to have moved on — and yet, it hasn’t.

Food for thought: A new study has flagged an alarming spike in diabetes and obesity in India. The culprit? Our carb-heavy diets. At least 21 states and UTs exceed the national recommendation of less than 5%E (total energy) for added sugar intake, while overall protein intake was suboptimal. Read

⏳ And Finally…

When will India get its hands on the Asia Cup trophy? Days after clinching the title against Pakistan, there’s still little clarity. In a bizarre twist, the Indian team refused to receive the trophy from Asian Cricket Council president Mohsin Naqvi (who also happens to be Pakistan’s Interior Minister) and ended up celebrating without the cup. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) claims Naqvi walked away with the silverware, including the individual medals. While the BCCI has asked for their return, the saga shows no signs of ending. On Tuesday, an online meeting called to resolve the issue went south, with BCCI’s Ashish Shelar walking out midway in protest. My colleague Devendra Pandey has more details.

That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta

Business As Usual by EP Unny