Daily Briefing: Monu Manesar arrested, the ISL-AIFF tussle, German envoy on G20 negotiations and more

🔴 From a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July 2023, India’s retail inflation rate eased to 6.83 per cent in August, mainly due to a slide in prices of food items, data showed. The headline inflation, however, remained above the upper limit of 4+/-2 per cent band of Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term inflation target.

🔴 In the latest edition of ExplainSpeaking, Udit Misra explains what’s behind the high inflation, falling consumer sentiment and how the two are correlated.

⚡ Only in Express

Coach Igor Stimac is unlikely to accompany the Indian football team to the Asian Games next week, The Indian Express has learnt. The development comes on the day this newspaper reported that Stimac picked the team for the Asian Cup qualifiers last year on the advice of an astrologer.

From a Croatian legend to a controversial Indian football coach, we take a look at who Stimac is, and how he figures into the tussle between the Indian Super League clubs and the All India Football Federation over the availability of players.

In other news, Philipp Ackermann, Germany’s Ambassador to India, shines a light on how the negotiations over the language employed in the New Delhi G20 declaration for the Russia-Ukraine war took place.

📰 From the Front Page

Bajrang Dal member and self-proclaimed cow vigilante Mohit Yadav, also known as Monu Manesar, has been arrested by Haryana Police, and then handed over to the Rajasthan Police. Sources say Monu was found to be using a fictitious name to upload objectionable posts. He’s also an accused in the murder case of Junaid and Nasir.

The National Investigation Agency has finally identified 15 of the 45 people, whose photos were released over two months for their alleged involvement in the violence at the Indian High Commission in London on March 19. The NIA is now preparing to send details to the immigration department to issue Look Out Circular (LOC) against them.

👩‍💻 Must Read

About 105 antiquities smuggled to the United States from India were repatriated in the month of August this year, an RTI response sought by The Indian Express stated. While the cases of repatriation of antiquities with other countries are underway, here’s a look at the next steps.

In our Opinion section today, Suhas Palshikar writes on the Marathas’ demand for reservation in Maharashtra: “Nobody has bothered to tell the agitating youth that besides the issue of the 50 per cent cap, a separate quota to a single caste is bound to be a stumbling block… there is no serious discussion of the implications of conceding Kunbi status to all Marathas… above all, there is not much reporting on possible pathways for Marathas to change their long time politics over reservation.”

With the G20 Summit hangover slowly fading away from the national capital, The Indian Express spoke to Special Commissioners in the Delhi Police, who led hundreds of officials and personnel, to understand how they pulled off the security operations for the Summit.

⌛ And Finally…

Lauding the recent success of Bollywood films such as Pathaan and Jawan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is making her streaming debut this month with Sujoy Ghosh’s thriller Jaane Jaan said, “After the pandemic, people want to go out and enjoy themselves. If a film is well-made, it is going to make money and kill it at the box-office… Having that perfect masala entertainer with a good script that will engage the audience.” In the latest edition of Express Adda, Khan talks about changes in Bollywood during her career spanning 23 years, perils of social media and more.

Delhi Confidential: Delhi Police Commissioner plans to host dinner today for all chiefs of security agencies and other officials, marking the happy conclusion of the G20 Summit. A Mitti cafe on the Supreme Court premises is set to employ people with special needs.

🎧 In today’s episode of the 3 Things podcast, we talk about how an astrologer influenced the Indian football team’s coach, reasons for the Bengaluru strike along with its impact on the Congress-led government in Karnataka, and the impact of a female literacy programme in Jharkhand.

Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta and Ariba

Business As Usual by E P Unny