🛕 Ram Mandir Inauguration Diyas were lit, flowers from different parts of the country adorned columns, walls inside and outside the new Ram temple, around 8,000 chairs awaited invitees, setting the stage for the Pran Pratishtha, the consecration ceremony, of the new idol in the new temple in Ayodhya today. To catch the latest updates, follow our live blog. The Ram Janmabhoomi movement for the grand temple at Ayodhya has a timeline running over more than two centuries, with several milestones amid the spilling of blood. Here is a brief history of the movement that ended up changing the course of Indian politics over the last three decades. Meanwhile, with most of the INDIA bloc members staying away from the Ayodhya event, take a look at what they will be up to today. 📰 From the first page The eleven convicts in the Bilkis Bano case surrendered before the Godhra jail authorities late Sunday night, in line with the two-week deadline set by the Supreme Court on January 8 after annulling the remission granted to them. Officials of the district police confirmed that they had “tracked and escorted” all 11 accused into the jail premises. Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah suffered injuries to his face when he confronted a crowd wielding BJP flags, which attempted to attack vehicles involved in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra as the convoy moved through Assam’s Sonitpur district on Sunday. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the upcoming Interim Budget is unlikely to have any “spectacular announcement”. From small tax relief measures and a boost to welfare spending is likely, here's what's on the cards. 🔴 Only in Express In the latest edition of Idea Exchange, President of University of Southern California (USC) Carol Folt speaks about resolving issues at USC, enhancing diversity on campus and what it means for Indian students to be in American universities. 👩💻 Must Read Beginning today, Air India will put its brand-new Airbus A350-900 into service. The first A350 aircraft in the country, it offers wider cabins, larger windows, advanced entertainment systems and 28 private suites in the Business class. With this aircraft, Air India hopes to enter a new era defined by world-class products and superior passenger experience. In our Opinion section today, Ashok Gulati and Shyma Jose write about the decline of rural real wages in the ‘Modi-2 period’: “For us, the litmus test of employment hinges on real wage rates. And we have seen from the government data itself that in rural areas, real wages have had negative growth in the last five years. This needs urgent attention and further research to create more employment-intensive growth processes.” Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November last year, the NAMO Drone Didi Scheme plans to train at least 15,000 women across the country on how to use agricultural drones. Read the story of Punjab’s ‘Drone Didis’ and how this scheme is ushering a tech revolution in agriculture by spraying fields using drones. ➡️ And Finally. Vinayakk Mohanarangan explains why Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying is the badminton world’s Sorcerer Supreme. Coming back to India Open after 8 years, her game delighted the fans at the IG Indoor Stadium as she capped off a fantastic week with her first title in India. Delhi Confidential: Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad has been invited as the advocate of Ram Lalla at the Ayodhya temple ceremony today. He had represented Ram Lalla, the deity, as an advocate during the hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case during the proceedings in Allahabad High Court. In today’s edition of our ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss the opinions of young people in Uttar Pradesh (those born after the Babri Masjid demolition) regarding the Ram Temple and also explore the reasons behind the Congress party’s decision not to attend the ceremony in Ayodhya today. Until tomorrow, Sonal Gupta and Aradhana Kalia
