Daily Briefing: Manipur gets a new government

On that note, let’s get to the rest of today’s edition. 👇

🚨 Big Story

Yumnam Khemchand Singh took oath as the Chief Minister of Manipur on Wednesday in Imphal’s Lok Bhavan. In the government’s attempt to bring in balance and make an outreach in the fractured state, two deputy chief ministers have been sworn in, one from each Kuki-Zo and Naga communities. The two are Nemcha Kipgen, a Kuki-Zo MLA from the BJP representing the Kangpokpi constituency, and Losii Dikho, an MLA from NDA ally Naga People’s Front representing the Mao constituency. Only two other MLAs were sworn in during the ceremony.

👉 This marked the end of a nearly year-long President’s Rule, which was invoked in the state in February last year following ethnic strife in the state. It was also the first time since the start of the conflict that legislators from the Kuki-Zo community have been in the state capital to engage in government processes.

👉 The BJP hopes that the new government can win back the people’s trust, especially in time for next year’s Assembly elections. However, the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) has reiterated that “Kuki-Zo people cannot and shall not participate in the formation of the Government of Manipur”. It referred to a meeting held last month, which resolved that participation would require “pre-requisites”, including a written “political commitment” by the state and central governments on a separate Union Territory for Kuki-Zo-majority areas.

Express View: On new Manipur CM’s plate: Tough challenges and an opportunity

⚡Only in Express

On track: India’s railway landscape is poised for transformation. It will soon have its own bullet train. The government has also announced seven high-speed rail corridors, built on indigenous technology, in the Budget. Where do these projects stand? Who will finance them? Will they have foreign collaborators like Japan? Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Railways, sat down with us to answer all this and more. Read.

📰 From the Front Page

Mamata’s day in court: A rather unusual hearing took place in the Supreme Court on Wednesday as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared in person to argue her case against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. She said it “bulldozed Bengali people”.

Mamata’s appearance in court comes on the back of a series of disagreements between her and the Election Commission, including an FIR against officers and the transfer of one IAS officer.

🎧 For more on this, tune in to today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode.

Tumble: A San Francisco-based AI start-up, Anthropic, has caused quite a tizzy in the IT industry. Indian IT stocks fell sharply, similar to the selloff on Wall Street, raising questions about the future of the software industry in the AI age. The trigger appears to have come from Anthropic’s Claude Cowork agent — a suite of workplace automation tools that can perform tasks, bypassing humans and traditional software platforms.

Gag? Ex-Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoirs have caused a firestorm in Parliament after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi attempted to read excerpts from it in the House. But the General is not alone. Other senior Army officers have risked publishing tell-all books, only to pay a heavy price for it. Case in point: Major General V K Singh, who retired in 2002, and wrote a book, India’s External Intelligence — Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing (Manas Publications). Today, at 81, he remains on bail, while his Official Secrets Act trial has yet to begin.

📌 Must Read

Tragic: Three sisters, aged 12, 14, and 16, died after they jumped from their residential building in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. Police say the girls had stopped attending school and were spending much of their time on their mobile phones, often watching Korean dramas and playing online games. They have left behind a purported suicide note, while their father describes their fascination with the Korean universe. Read our report.

Also read: The Indian Express spoke to a child psychologist about children’s dependency on online worlds and warning signs for parents.

Void: Maharashtra politics is in flux. The leadership vacuum left behind by Ajit Pawar’s demise has unsettled Marathas. Will Sunetra Pawar’s succession as Deputy Chief Minister allay fears? Columnist Neerja Chowdhury travelled all the way to Satara to understand how voters feel about the development. She got a sense of mixed feelings — and a likely advantage for the BJP. Read.

⏳ And Finally…

Shaadi scam: Should platforms be held responsible if a user cheats another? A woman was conned by a man she met on a matrimonial site, Shaadi.com, who allegedly defrauded her of almost Rs 11 lakh on the promise of marriage. In February 2025, she decided to file an FIR against the fraudster. In the course of the investigation, the Hyderabad Police also booked Anupam Mittal, the firm’s founder and CEO, contending that Shaadi.com had failed to properly verify the accused user’s credentials. While the Supreme Court has granted Mittal interim protection from arrest, the case has raised questions about platform liability. We explain.

That’s all for today,
Sonal Gupta