Daily Briefing: Modi in Mauritius

🚨 Big Story

Here’s a fun fact: A large population of Mauritius, an African island nation, speaks Bhojpuri. 70% of the island’s population traces its roots to India. How? This goes back to the colonial past of both India and Mauritius. Facing labour shortages in Mauritius, the British had brought Indians as indentured labourers to work on the sugar plantations of the island. Soon, Bhojpuri words entered the island’s French-influenced Creole language. Today, the island has become India’s key partner in the Indian Ocean.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Mauritius today and tomorrow to sign key pacts with his Mauritius counterpart Navin Ramgoolam. These include defence and maritime pacts, especially the sharing of white-shipping information. A memorandum of understanding between enforcement agencies is also on the table to weed out financial crimes. Modi will also be the chief guest at Mauritius’s 57th National Day celebrations.

⚡ Only in Express

Spit out: Keeping a state Assembly building clean is no easy task. Throw paan stains in the mix and you have an hour-long addition to the exercise, per stain. What’s the solution? A ban on paan masala and gutkha in the Assembly premises! The trouble started with a visible red stain left right in the middle of the main hall by a paan-chewing member. The Speaker was enraged. Now, CCTV cameras will monitor for any spitting offenders, who would have to cough up a fine of Rs 1,000.

📰 From the Front Page

Un-parliamentary: The second round of the Budget Session in Parliament kicked off to a stormy start with the National Education Policy (NEP) at the centre of the row. Tamil Nadu MPs faced off with Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who accused the DMK government of playing “politics” with students’ future. The issue has caused an unease in the ruling BJP.

Grim task: Over two weeks after a portion of a tunnel collapsed in Telangana, trapping eight men, rescuers have been unable to locate their bodies. Hope rests with Maya and Murphy from the Kerala Police’s cadaver dog squad. The two Belgian Malinois dogs have been traversing the dangerous terrain to discover any human remains.

📌 Must Read

Mumbai lingo: Last week, RSS leader Suresh “Bhayyaji” Joshi triggered a political firestorm when he suggested that those coming to Mumbai don’t have to learn Marathi. On the face of it, his statement was a nod to Mumbai’s cultural plurality. But it harks back to a familiar debate on the notion of being Marathi. Historian Rahul Sarwate weighs in.

Bad credit: The Kisan Credit Card was introduced in 1998 to provide timely credit to farmers for agricultural and allied activities. In the last four years, however, there has been a sharp rise in bad loans KCC accounts. The defaults in the KCC segment signal stress in the agricultural sector and point to several holes in the scheme.

⌛ And Finally…

“Bhai, hum koi retire nahi ho rahe (We aren’t retiring)”. With this, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma shut down the retirement rumours swirling around him and Virat Kohli. After a tough Australian tour, where critics came out in full force, the Champions Trophy win in Dubai felt like sweet redemption. As our national sports editor, Sandeep Dwivedi, points out, steering this team with former captains, big egos, and young, impressionable rookies isn’t exactly a cakewalk. But Sharma’s leadership—sharp, emotional and a masterclass in man-management—solidified his legacy.

🎧 Before you go, don’t forget to tune in to the latest episode of ‘3 Things’, where we discuss a child trafficking bust, Assam’s “illegal foreigners” camp, and a fashion show in Kashmir.

That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta

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