Daily Briefing: Measles outbreak hits Mumbai; Man who attacked Kejriwal home gets BJP ticket; and more

Inquiring about the “mechanism” through which former IAS officer Arun Goel was appointed Election Commissioner last week, the Supreme Court directed the government to produce the file relating to his appointment and said “if you are in the right, as you claim, that there is no hanky panky, then there is nothing to fear”. 

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The Supreme Court is creating a minor buzz by hearing a case pertaining to the appointment of the election commissioners. In today’s Opinion, Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes: “The role of the CJI in selection committees can be counterproductive. Institutionally, the desire within the judiciary to get more entangled in appointments is possibly more about leverage than virtue. It risks violating the separation of powers.”

From the Front Page

A day after five persons from Meghalaya’s Mukroh village were killed in a clash over alleged timber-smuggling with Assam Police, which opened fire and claimed later they were forced to do so in self-defence, there remained tension and fear in the air in the village along the border with Assam. The big question among residents of Mukroh was: “When will those people with guns come here again?”

With 13 deaths over the last month and a sharp spike in cases, Mumbai and its surrounding areas are staring at a measles outbreak. Until Wednesday, the city had reported 233 confirmed cases, of which over 200 were reported in the last two months. This is a huge jump from the last few years — 10 cases and 1 death in 2021; 29 cases and no death in 2020; and 37 cases and 3 deaths in 2019.   

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C Rangarajan, an expert and veteran policy maker who has had a ringside view of the Indian economy over decades, weighs in on the factors that’re driving the depreciation of the rupee, and why it is essential to contain domestic inflation to stop the slide. He writes: “I will say that even in India inflation is at a higher level. We had set 6% as the upper limit in the inflation targeting scheme, but the inflation rate has been above 6% for almost nine months. Therefore, we too need to control inflation.” 

The new centre of BJP-AAP slugfest ahead of MCD polls is the saffron party’s candidate Pradeep Tiwary, who was arrested in March for vandalism outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. The AAP slammed the BJP on its pick, saying it was now clear that “BJP produces gunda and felicitates them for hooliganism and vandalism”.

The Iron Dome has helped Israel spot and intercept every projectile fired at it since 2011. The air defence system fires its own missiles that intercept the enemy rockets. Each interceptor hits the rocket mid-air and destroys it. We explain as to why it is the country’s best guard against enemy rockets.

And Finally

With Japan’s victory against Germany, the Fifa World Cup is witnessing the underdog uprising. The 83rd minute winning goal could potentially be the greatest ever goal in the history of Japan football. With a similar script to Saudi Arabia, the Samurai Blue have proved that they are not pushovers. We report from Qatar. 

Delhi Confidential: On his 60th birthday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla received a slew of greetings, including from President Droupadi Murmu, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Birla spent the day at Indergarh, a small village in his constituency in Rajasthan resolving some issues concerning the farming community.

In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ Podcast, we take a look at election campaigns in Gujarat’s tribal areas and redeveloping tribal areas as ideal tourist destinations, starting with the statue of Unity. 

Until tomorrow, 

Rounak Bagchi and Aneesa PA

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