Daily Briefing: Legal challenge to electoral bonds scheme; latest on Israel-Hamas war; and more

As the Supreme Court continues its hearing on the constitutional validity of the electoral bonds scheme, it noted on Wednesday that the scheme suffers from “selective anonymity/confidentiality”, leading to an “information hole”.

In its defence — that anonymity of donors is imperative to protect their right to privacy — the Government gives itself a waiver. This point was flagged by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud who observed during the hearing, the donor of an electoral bond is not exactly anonymous. The State, through law enforcement agencies and the State Bank of India, is privy to the donor’s identity and, therefore, expression of “political affiliation”.

⚡ Only in Express

Recently, India abstained from voting on a Jordan-introduced resolution for an immediate humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict at the United Nations General Assembly. Mohamed El Kayed, Amman’s Ambassador to Delhi, said Jordan respected India’s sovereign decision, adding, “India had taken abstention to try to stay in the middle, to have a role in the future on both sides”. Read his full interview with The Indian Express.

📰 From the Front Page

CERT-In, the government’s nodal agency on computer security, and Apple are learnt to have set up teams to investigate the alert sent to Opposition leaders, warning them of “state-sponsored attackers”. Sources told The Indian Express that Apple is expected to explain what exactly did its system detect to trigger the alert mails to some users.

Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections surged 13.4 per cent year-on-year in October — for sales in September — to Rs 1.72 lakh crore, the second-highest level since the July 2017 rollout of the indirect tax regime, data showed.

👩‍💻 Must Read

In Chhattisgarh’s Kawardha, the communal flare-up in 2021 has led to resentment amongst a majority of Hindus. The BJP hopes to use this to unseat the Congress’s star MLA and state law minister Mohammad Akbar. And who will be taking on Akbar? Vijay Sharma, a well-known local leader, who was among those arrested and jailed in the aftermath of the 2021 riots.

In our Opinion section today, Sanjay Srivastava writes on the Marathas demand for reservation: “In a situation where the state seems the only safe haven against arbitrary action and markets are allowed untrammelled power to determine how we work, it’s unsurprising that there is such a strong desire to be part of the state.”

ImmunoACT, a company incubated by IIT Bombay, is all set for the commercial launch of India’s first indigenously-developed CAR-T cell therapy, which is expected to be available to cancer patients at a tenth of the cost abroad. What is CAR-T cell therapy, who can get it, and when will it be available? Rahul Purwar, CEO of ImmunoACT, explains.

⌛  And Finally…

MS Dhoni had an aura, Virat Kohli oozed intensity; Rohit Sharma is cast in the Jayawardene mould — cool and analytical, self-aware and tactical, a mix of pre-game plans and on-field instinct. Here’s what makes Rohit the captain of the Indian cricket team.

Delhi Confidential: The Congress may have been steering clear of Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of former PM late Indira Gandhi, for long, but not its Madhya Pradesh leader Kamal Nath.

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss the legal challenge to the Electoral Bond Scheme of 2018, the threat notification from Apple that several Opposition leaders and journalists have allegedly received, and demands from Telangana’s gig workers.

Until next time
Sonal Gupta

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