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Journalism of Courage
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The ‘At Home’ event by President Droupadi Murmu on Republic Day this year will “sound, taste and feel like South India”. Aiming to promote India’s cultural diversity, official sources say the southern flavour is set to feature big in the welcome programme, artistes featured and cuisine. From Tamil Nadu’s Kancheepuram silk to Karnataka’s Ganjifa art, the invites sent out to guests for the event on January 26 evening included elements central to the culture of the five southern states. That’s not all. Guests are to be welcomed by a couple each from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala with the languages and attires of the region. Seems like Rashtrapati Bhavan will be sparing no pains for a showcase of the South!
🚨Big Story
At the table: A meeting of the Quad grouping’s Foreign Ministers—from US, Japan, Australia and India—is likely to take place, a day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States on January 20. India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be in Washington DC for the inauguration. The meeting could be the first of its kind under the Trump 2.0 administration of the grouping which is seen as a counter to China’s growing assertion in the Indo-Pacific region.
⚡Only in Express
Big Picture: Meet (Queen) Koneru Humpy. The youngest woman to be grandmaster, three decades of playing the sport and now twice World Rapid Champion. Yet, as she says, her “chess ends when I finish a tournament”. Amit Kamath visits Humpy at her home in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada where she is as tactical about family time as she is about her moves on the chess board
“What is black and white in terms of election processes, is being so cleanly washed out that you don’t see anything. We have never seen such a compromised Election Commission.”
With the 2025 Delhi Assembly Election just a few weeks away, Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the poll body is turning a blind eye to poll code violations. In an interview to The Indian Express, he also lashed out at BJP’s lack of “agenda” over the allegations against party chief Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case and the CM House renovation.
📰 Express Explained
High-level engagement: At a substantive meeting with the Taliban regime, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Afghanistan acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on January 8. The meeting was the culmination of the incremental progress of India’s “cautious engagement” with the Taliban who took power in Kabul after the Ashraf Ghani government collapsed three and a half years ago. Shubhajit Roy traces how India negotiated its relationship with the Taliban from 2021 to the present.
✍️ Express Opinion
“The Kumbh Mela is distinctly male, ascetic, ritualistic, occult, military, and royal in nature. It is about displays of Hindu power.”
With more than 45 crore people estimated to attend the Maha Kumbh on till February 26, Mythologist and columnist Devdutt Patnaik elaborates on why the congregation is about a side of Hinduism often not talked about. It is primarily about siddhi (power) and shakti (power), he writes.
🍿Movie Review
Is ‘Emergency,’ the riding-on-controversies feature film written, directed, and starring Kangana Ranaut, worth your time at the theatres? Shubhra Gupta could help you make up your mind. The most puzzling thing, according to Gupta, about this “confused Indira Gandhi biopic which is weak in craft” is why it is called Emergency. “Not even Ranaut’s undoubted competence as an actor can save it,” she writes.
Until next time
Vibha B Madhava
