Daily Briefing: Wrestling chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh steps aside over sexual harassment probe; women get command roles in Army; and more

1) Facing sexual harassment allegations from the country’s most-decorated wrestlers, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, has been asked to step aside. After a late night meeting with protesting wrestlers, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur announced that a probe panel, with a four-week deadline, has been set up to look into the allegations of sexual harassment and financial irregularities against Singh.

🔴 But hours before he stepped down, BJP MP Singh had dug his heels in signalling he would brazen it out. Denying the sexual harassment allegations, he told The Indian Express that the BJP had not asked him for a clarification, and the party “need not get into the picture.” This, even as there was growing disquiet within the BJP over the intensifying protests by some of the country’s most high-profile athletes against its long-serving MP.

🔴 But how did he manage to make it this far? Well, a wrestler who tumbled into politics via the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, and who continues to face a case in the Babri Masjid demolition, Singh, 66, has kept his feet planted on the ground courtesy the image of a “dabangg” leader – or a “shaktishaali (powerful)” one, as he likes calling himself — who doesn’t need the BJP as much as the BJP needs him in at least half-a-dozen districts around his native Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.

2) In her column this week, Neerja Chowdhury writes on the political drama in Rajasthan: “Rajasthan is more a commentary on the Congress’s high command than on Ashok Gehlot or Sachin Pilot, two capable leaders who might have been unbeatable together.”

3) As many as 108 women officers in the Army are set to be cleared for the rank of Colonel (selection grade) by January 22 by a special selection board, which will make them eligible to command units and troops in their respective arms and services for the first time. A total of 244 women officers are being considered for promotion against the vacancies in arms and services. But, why is this significant? Why did their Colonel promotions come so late? How many women serve in the Indian armed forces? We explain

4) Making a history of sorts in the Union Territory on Friday, three siblings hailing from Doda district’s remote Kahara area have cracked the prestigious Jammu Kashmir Civil Services Examination. Two of them — Ifra Anjum Wani (rank 143) and her younger brother Suhail Ahmad Wani (rank 111) — cleared the exam in their first attempt, while Huma (rank 117), the eldest among the three, made it in her second attempt. Speaking to The Indian Express, the three siblings shared their journey to becoming the first in their family to join a government service.

🍿 What to watch this weekend

5) This week, Shubhra Gupta reviews Mission Majnu, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna, and directed by Shantanu Bagchi. “This film avoids jingoism. The line, ‘deshbhakti rooh mein hoti hai’ is like a balm in these riven, polarised times,” she writes. Guess how many stars Shubhra gave to this film… 😉

The Express News Quiz

Until next time, 

Rahel Philipose and Anandu Suresh