Good morning, The Big Story Returning the spotlight to the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque controversy, a Varanasi court directed the district administration to seal the spot in the mosque complex where a Shivling was claimed to have been found during a court-mandated videography survey that just concluded. This came after the three-day survey of the complex being done by the Commission concluded on Monday at noon, with officials saying that the findings of the survey were “confidential”. The Supreme Court is likely to hear today a plea by the Committee of Management of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, Varanasi, challenging the videography survey. The Muslim body contends that it is contrary to provisions of the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) Act 1991. Incidentally, the Act itself is under challenge before the top court with at least two pending petitions questioning its Constitutional validity on the ground that it bars judicial review, which is a basic feature of the Constitution, and abridges the right to religion of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs. Only in the Express Stressing on the need for India to reframe regional ties, C Raja Mohan writes: “Recent developments — in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan — underline the geographic imperative that binds India to its neighbours in the Subcontinent. Together, they should remind the region’s leaders that working with the logic of geography has become an unavoidable necessity amidst the deepening regional and global crises accentuated by Russia’s war in Ukraine.” Amid the veg/non-veg debate that periodically convulses the country is a reality check: more people are eating non-vegetarian food than ever before, and the proportion of Indian men who do so has gone up sharply in the six years between 2015-16 and 2019-21, shows an analysis by The Indian Express of the National Family Health Survey data. India is exploring the possibility of reopening its embassy in Afghanistan soon, but without top-level diplomatic representation, according to sources. The Indian Express has learnt that a team of security officials flew to Kabul in February to assess the ground situation. The embassy will likely function only with personnel for liaison purposes that may extend to consular services, the sources said. From the Front Page India’s ban on wheat exports has spiked international prices by almost 6 per cent a bushel (60 pounds or 27.21 kg) in the global markets. With the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the supply disruption that followed, global wheat prices jumped over 60 per cent in 2022 as just Russia and Ukraine together account for almost a third of world wheat exports. The announcement also led to chaos at the Deendayal port in Gujarat’s Kutch district where 4,000 wheat-laden trucks queued up with nowhere to go, and four ships, half loaded, with no order to sail. Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked Buddha Purnima by laying the foundation stone of a centre for Buddhist culture and heritage in Nepal’s Lumbini — the first such facility to be set up by India there. Modi later said that relations between India and Nepal are “as ancient as the ocean and as stable as the Himalayas”. Must Read A petition seeking videography of the Shahi Idgah Masjid adjacent to Krishnajanmabhoomi was recently moved in a local Mathura court. The application seeks an advocate commissioner for assessment of the site “on the lines of (the) Gyanvapi mosque”, to determine “existence of Hindu artefacts and ancient religious inscriptions on the mosque premises”. Rahul Bhat, who was shot dead by militants in Budgam, was working under a Prime Minister employment package for migrant Kashmiri Pandits. Of the total 6,000 posts provided under the scheme, a total of 5,928 are filled up. No more than 1,037 of them live in secure accommodations. An official says the government is cognizant of the problems and at least 5,000 more quarters are being readied for such employees in secure zones. West Bengal has allotted seats to second-and third-year medical students from Ukraine even as the country’s apex medical education regulator maintained that it is not allowed. Students who complete their education in such a manner cannot apply for the screening test that every foreign medical graduate has to take before practising in India, officials from the National Medical Commission and the Health Ministry said. And Finally. 24-year-old Manisha Moun secured her maiden world championship medal in the 57 Kg category at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in Istanbul, Turkey. We take a look at the tough times her family has overcome and her “zunoon” (passion) to learn. Delhi Confidential: During a Parliamentary committee’s visit to Tripura last week, the state government put up a cultural event at a local five-star hotel. Manik Saha, who went on to take oath as the new chief minister four days later, is learnt to have regaled the visiting MPs with Bengali songs. “Little did we know that a future CM was sitting in our midst,” quipped one MP. Until tomorrow, Rounak Bagchi and Sonal Gupta
