Daily Briefing: Investigating India’s missing artefacts; stormy scenes in Parliament over Rahul Gandhi’s speech

An investigation by The Indian Express has found that at least 77 antiquities spanning centuries at New York’s Met have links to Subhash Kapoor, who is serving a 10-year prison term in India for smuggling antiquities.

We also take a look at the number of missing pieces from India’s heritage, and why “official” numbers don’t capture the full story.

Stay tuned till 9.30 am to read the full investigation!

In Parliament

The second leg of the Budget Session in Parliament kicked off to a stormy start with the Government targetting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in London that “democracy is under attack” in India. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh sought an apology from Rahul for ‘discrediting’ India.

Hitting back, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reminded the BJP about some remarks made by PM Modi during his visits abroad. He said it was strange that “those destroying democracy” were now talking of “saving” it.

So what exactly has Rahul said to irk the BJP? Read here.

From the Front Page

History doesn’t always have to be grand sweeps. It can be made out of small incremental steps, because of what they mean once the hurly burly of the awards night and the zillion pre-Oscars and post-Oscars after parties are done and dusted. And that is what India’s twin wins at Oscars 2023 — with RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ and The Elephant Whisperers — have done.

Global watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force, has included a case study in its latest report that bears a striking resemblance to the ED case against former Yes Bank CMD Rana Kapoor. The ED alleged that he had purchased a painting from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi. While FATF mentions no names, Union Minister Anurag Thakur has said it was a matter of “great shame” that the “story of Gandhi family’s corruption” is part of the FATF report.

Though retail inflation dropped down to 6.44 per cent in February from January’s 6.52 per cent, it continued to remain above the upper band of the 4+/- 2 per cent medium-term target of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the second consecutive month.

Must Read

🎥🏆 Indian cinema may have finally managed to grab wider global attention, but the road ahead remains challenging. In our opinion section today, Alaka Sahani writes on why Indian cinema must make the most of its success at the Oscars: “The stories and storytelling that India creates have to be riveting and well-produced enough to capture the popular imagination.”

Members of the Taliban regime will soon be joining a four-day crash course on India. The online course, titled ‘Immersing with Indian Thoughts, an India Immersion Program’, begins today and is being offered by the Ministry of External Affairs through IIM Kozhikode. Participants will learn about India’s business environment and will receive a digital certificate upon completion of the course.

The Manipur government withdrew from the Suspension of Operations agrees (SoO) with two hill-based tribal insurgent groups, alleging they were “influencing agitation among forest encroachers”. This marked the culmination of brewing unrest in the Kuki-dominated hills of Manipur — with an eviction drive to clear forest land of “encroachers”, a call for a “peaceful” protest march in response that turned violent while Section 144 was imposed, and a simmering battle between the Kuki tribal bodies and the BJP state government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Here is everything you need to know.

Should the RBI pause rate hikes and focus on spurring growth? Confederation of Indian Industries President Sanjiv Bajaj believes so. A pause in rate hikes would be a positive signal for the industry, nudging it to ramp up capital expenditure, Bajaj said in an interview with The Indian Express.

And Finally…

🏏 Sandeep Dwivedi writes: Rohit Sharma has been around long enough to know that four years means a lifetime in Indian cricket. It’s no secret that the six-Test old captain’s legacy will be decided by the performance of the Indian team in this year’s two ICC events. At the recent end of series press conference, Rohit had the expression of a captain proud of his boys.

🤐 Delhi Confidential: Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonawal has some big plans for the 100-day countdown to international Yoga day. From engaging role models and achievers to promote yoga, to setting up ‘yoga cells’ at offices, check out what Sonawal has planned.

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 things’ podcast, we discuss India’s Oscar wins, the outcome of the Australian PM’s visit to India, and the problems within the NAAC.

Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta and Rahel Philipose

Business As Usual by EP Unny