Good morning, From the Delimitation Commission’s order on Jammu and Kashmir to the World Health Organisation’s figures on India’s Covid death toll – here are the top reads from today’s edition.
The Big Story
Finalising its order for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Delimitation Commission recommended seven additional constituencies — six for Jammu and one for Kashmir — taking the total number of seats in the UT to 90 from 83 earlier.
The order, however, has come under criticism as the Jammu region has got more seats relative to its population compared with the Kashmir Valley. Further, the new Assembly seats in the Jammu region have been carved out mostly in Hindu dominated areas; the only seat in the Valley that has been carved out is a stronghold of a past BJP ally. “The Government of India has once again trampled upon the Constitution of this country by turning the electoral majority into a minority,” PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said, adding, “We outrightly reject it”. Only in the Express
In an interview with The Indian Express, a day before he was convicted for unlawful assembly by a Gujarat court, Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani discusses his arrest in Assam, his political plans, and his future in the Congress. “I will never let the activist Jignesh die… Rather, the Congress also wants me to be what I am,” he said. From the Front Page On the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of IPC Section 124A dealing with sedition, the Supreme Court decided to first examine if it should be referred to a larger bench in light of its 1962 judgment upholding the provision after reading it down. Attorney General K K Venugopal said Section 124A should be retained and only guidelines be laid down to prevent its misuse. Covid could have killed as many as 47.4 lakh people in India in 2020 and 2021, the World Health Organisation said. If indeed the WHO numbers, disputed by India, are taken at face value, that would imply the country missed 90 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths in the first two years of the pandemic. Several population scientists said missing such a large number of deaths was “extremely unlikely”. An interfaith couple was attacked in Hyderabad Wednesday night, leaving the man dead. Police have arrested two people from the woman’s family, while her brother and brother-in-law, who allegedly carried out the attack, are absconding. The woman, Ashrin Sultana, told the police that her family was opposed to the marriage not only because the victim, B Nagaraju, was Hindu but also because he belonged to the Dalit Mala community. At least six of the 13 people arrested for the death of two tribal men, who were assaulted on Tuesday over allegations of cow slaughter in Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni, are members of the Bajrang Dal — and had allegedly participated in previous “raids against cattle smugglers”, their family members said. The families of some of the six others arrested claimed they were cajoled into joining the raid, which led to the deaths, by people they met at a local wedding. Another accused is a tribal youth whose family does “not know much” about the case. Must Read
Sanjaya Baru writes on the challenges “middle powers” like India, France and Germany face: “Even after Russia has sought to tear down the post-Cold War security structure in Europe, India has stayed the course in its equations both with Russia and the European Union. Both sides may be dissatisfied with India, but that has been India’s lot in the post-colonial era. India is not out to please anyone, it has and will continue to seek a global environment conducive to its own economic development and one that will acknowledge its civilisational contribution to humanity.” A day after the RBI raised the repo rate by 40 basis points and the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 50 basis points, the benchmark Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange jumped by close to 900 points, or 1.6%, before losing its gains to close the day at 55,702 — a gain of 33 points over Wednesday’s closing. As inflation remains a key concern, interest rates were only expected to go up. But investors must keep in mind that equities may outperform in times of high inflation, as had happened in 2014 and 2016 amid consumer price index inflation. Sandeep Singh explains what central banks have done, the impact on the economy, and why equities should be preferred. And Finally...
Four days ago, 19-year-old Priya Mohan beat India’s fastest runner Dutee Chand. But what has really gotten people in the Indian athletics circle talking is her impressive biomechanics chart. The teen is being hailed as a potential world-class athlete, with incredible muscle-levers, by biomechanics experts. “At our centre, we have tested more than 2000 elite athletes, but her readings are way better than any athlete who has walked in here,” says Anthony Chacko, director of the Karnataka state-run Centre for Sports Science (CSS).
🤫Delhi Confidential: With Bihar taking serious measures to gain an investor-friendly image, the state’s Industries Minister and senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain have a complaint against filmmakers. According to him, although Bihar under Nitish Kumar has changed, some filmmakers have stuck to portraying the state as a lawless land.
🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk about the hike in RBI’s repo rate and the latest CRS data on deaths. We also go over the attack on an interfaith couple in Hyderabad.
Until tomorrow,
Rahel Philipose and Sonal Gupta
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