Daily briefing: An update on the wrestlers’ protest; new Karnataka govt’s plans for school education; Amit Shah in Manipur

⚡Only in the Express

👉🏽 In an interview with The Indian Express, Karnataka’s new School Education Minister Madhu Bangrappa said that the hijab ban imposed by the previous BJP-led government was not needed. He also weighed in on Congress’s promise of revising school textbooks, the main challenges before the education department, and the need for funds to improve infrastructure. Read the full interview.

👉🏽 Speaking to The Indian Express on the sidelines of the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meet in Oslo, Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said that China has a “very problematic narrative” that it is pushing forward on the Russia-Ukraine war and that Beijing could play a more active role to encourage Russia to withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

📰From the Front Page

Amid his four-day visit to violence-hit Manipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited relief camps housing both the Meitei and Kuki groups and assured all support in ensuring their early and safe return home.

The Allahabad High Court (HC) upheld a Varanasi district court order which had said that Hindu groups are not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, and the suit seeking the right to worship inside the Gyanvapi mosque was maintainable.

PM Modi once again attacked the Congress in Rajasthan over “85 per cent commission”, saying that if not for the BJP government in the last nine years, several central schemes would have taken decades more to reach every corner of the country.

👩🏽‍💻 Must Read

👉🏽From a wooden block of red sheesham used by a family of block-print artisans in Uttar Pradesh to an eight-foot-long representation of Varanasi made in pure silk, the Shilp Gallery in the new Parliament is home to rare installations by 300 workers. Wish to visit the gallery? Find out more about it here

👉🏽In today’s opinion section, Arvind P Datar writes on how the greatness of the new Parliament will be determined by the manner in which their occupants (MPs) discharge their constitutional obligations.

👉🏽Arriving in New Delhi for a four-day visit, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ will meet his counterpart Narendra Modi for talks that will focus on cooperation in energy, trade and connectivity. What does Prachanda’s visit mean for Indo-Nepal relations? We explain

⏱️ And Finally

Former Indian football captain Oinam Bembem Devi is one of the dozen athletes from Manipur who have vowed to return medals if peace is not restored soon in the state. “For an athlete, there is no bigger honour than to be recognised for your contribution to the sport and the country. So, it’s very difficult for her to return the award or medals,” Devi says.

🤫 When Mallikarjun Kharge took over as Congress president in October 2022, the party’s leadership authorised him to nominate the new Congress Working Committee (CWC). But now that the Karnataka Assembly polls are over, party leaders wonder what is holding Kharge back from constituting the committee. Read in today’s Delhi confidential!

🔊 In today’s 3 Things episode, we talk about why protesting wrestlers decided to immerse their medals in the Ganga river, on India’s navigation system NavIC and the benefits of having a regional satellite-based navigation system, and the initiative taken to help Rohingya refugees to learn their native language and pass it on to the next generation.

Until tomorrow,
Varsha Sriram and Rahel Philipose