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Journalism of Courage
Good morning,
The Vice-Presidential elections are finally here, and all eyes are on Parliament today. The House will decide between two contenders: the NDA’s C P Radhakrishnan and the Opposition’s pick, Justice (retired) B Sudershan Reddy. The elections were necessitated after the sudden resignation of former V-P Jagdeep Dhankhar, who quit citing health reasons. With 781 electors across the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the magic number to win stands at 385. On paper, the odds seem firmly stacked in Radhakrishnan’s favour as the NDA already commands 425 MPs. Moreover, the YSRCP has thrown its weight behind the NDA, while the BRS and BJD have opted to sit this one out, which may tilt the scales further. Voting will be held through a secret ballot. Stay tuned!
On that note, let’s get to the rest of today’s edition. 👇
Nepal has lifted the contentious ban on social media platforms after at least 19 protestors were killed in a ‘Gen Z’ uprising against the government’s decision. Thousands of youth under the age of 30, affiliated with no particular party, took to the streets, clashing with the police.
Quick recap: The government passed an order to ban over two dozen social media sites, including Facebook, WhatsApp, X, Instagram, and YouTube, for failing to comply with directions to register with the Information Ministry. The government said the ban was to bring these platforms under regulation, but protestors called it an attack on free speech.
As it happened: The protests were held in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bhairahawa, Itahari and Chitwan. The Army was deployed to contain the situation, while the police opened fire in at least two places, including the capital Kathmandu, where 16 people were killed. On Monday evening, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned on moral grounds.
Zoom in: While the social media ban was the trigger, the unrest had been simmering long before. The youth have expressed frustration with “rampant corruption” in the government. Read our explainer for the full picture.
🎧 For more on the Nepal ‘Gen Z’ protests, tune in to today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode.
Manipur matters: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to Manipur later this month, the Centre has made significant progress in engaging with the Kuki community. It announced that the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki militant groups has been renewed with fresh terms, and that the Kuki-Zo council has agreed to open up National Highway-2 for “free movement” in the statement. My colleagues Sukrita Baruah and Deeptiman Tiwary break down why this matters.
The Centre has also drawn up a tentative itinerary for the PM’s visit on September 13, his first since the conflict began in Manipur in May 2023. The PM will likely meet the displaced people and announce a rehabilitation package.
Roll call: Amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls, the Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar as the 12th document to establish the identity of a person. However, it added that Aadhaar was “not proof of citizenship”, and authorities will be “entitled to verify the authenticity” of the Aadhaar card. As Apurva Vishwanath notes, this raises the bar for the EC to exclude an individual from the voter rolls. Read.
Held: Mehraj Malik has become the first sitting legislator in Jammu and Kashmir to have been detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on charges of disturbing public order. Malik, the only Aam Aadmi Party MLA in J&K, will be kept in jail for one year.
Status quo: Activist Manoj Jarange Patil ended his hunger strike after assurances from the Devendra Fadnavis-led government on the issue of reservation for Marathas. This was the eighth time Patil sat on a hunger strike, and as Loksatta editor Girish Kuber notes, he walked away with the same set of assurances as before. Kuber reflects on the Maratha community’s quota demand and why the BJP is unable to meet it.
‘Final nail’: The powerloom hub in Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi was already struggling amid cheap imports when US-imposed 50 per cent tariffs hit the industry. The looms, which spin yarn from raw material, employ thousands of migrant workers. Nayonika Bose recounts the 160-year history of Bhiwandi and how the tariffs threaten to wipe off the dying industry.
Before the advent of food delivery services like Zomato and Swiggy, we called up restaurants directly to place our orders. Often, a staffer on a cycle or bike would show up on your doorstep with hot food packed in unmarked bags. The good old days may be back as the new GST reforms put an 18 per cent levy on delivery charges for orders via Zomato and Swiggy. Read more.
That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta
