Daily Briefing: India won’t let China change status quo along LAC, says EAM Jaishankar; Kapil Sibal’s comments on Collegium system row; and more

Weeks after the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the Indian military will not let China change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) “unilaterally”. He said the deployment of Indian troops has been scaled up to a level “we have never had”. 

Only in the Express

In an interview with The Indian Express, Rajya Sabha MP and former law minister Kapil Sibal weighed in on the raging row between the government and higher judiciary over the Collegium system of appointment of judges: “The statements made by the Law Minister are disturbing, because they relate to the way the court should function, which I think is entirely inappropriate. He suggested that judges have too many vacations. That too is inappropriate.”

In the latest edition of Express Adda, Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forests & Climate Change and Labour & Employment, spoke about sustainable consumption and COP27, the clearance given to GM mustard, and why development and environment are not opposed to each other.

From the Front Page

Eight months after the Haryana Assembly passed the Bill, the state government notified rules to implement a law that prevents forcible religious conversions — and places the burden of proof of innocence on the accused.

BJP’s Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal said that Chinese forces will not let Indian cattle herders enter grazing areas near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh until the border dispute between the two countries is resolved. Addressing the media with him, MoS Finance Bhagwat Karad said India was also trying to bring down imports from China.

Must Read 

For several months, a group of 30 young IAS officers were part of a team that was engaged in a special mission: draw up a governance vision for India in the year 2047. After several brainstorming sessions, this group has come up with ideas for the future. The focus is on “four thrust areas”. Wondering what these thrust areas are? Read more to find out.

In our Opinion section today, Jaspreet Bindra writes on why the era of free data is over and how the law is coming for Big Tech: “Now, data has been pronounced the new oil, and future world powers will be created on the back of data. In this entire scenario, the Indian situation is particularly interesting. India as a country and the Indian consumer is leapfrogging the world in digitisation and digital technology, with the government treating these as Digital Public Goods.” 

After a fall during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, organ donation numbers bounced back in 2021 and were close to the highest they have been in the last five years. However, the number of deceased donations has remained lower than the number of donations from living persons. We explain how this situation can be addressed.

And Finally…

Even hours after the FIFA World Cup final was over, thousands hung in the vicinity of the Lusail Stadium, to soak in the atmosphere, to fully absorb the slice of history they had seen. But a good number of them would leave on Tuesday, plunging Qatar into solitude. This World Cup was beyond the wildest imagination. But gradually, Qatar would slip into a suffocating silence, clutched in the nostalgia for a while, sliding into an emptiness, into the pre-World Cup days.

Delhi Confidential: Three words from Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar had MPs smiling on Monday. While TMC MP Derek O’Brien was speaking on the government’s appropriation Bills, he spoke of his “beloved state of Bengal”. Before O’Brien could continue, Dhankhar corrected him by adding, “our beloved state”. Members could be heard laughing — one MP remarked that Dhankhar, who had been Bengal Governor, loved the state “even more”. 

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss India’s latest data on exports and imports and what it means for the economy, a new guided missile destroyer INS Mormugao, and the state of organ donations in India.

Until tomorrow, 

Rahel Philipose and Anandu Suresh