Good morning, Violent protests in Sri Lanka, Congress’ upcoming Chintan Shivir, and tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz’s drop shots – here are the top reads from today’s edition The Big Story
Colombo has been a witness to terrorist bombings and assassinations, but not to the scenes of violence that unfolded on Monday. Supporters of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse began burning down the protestors' campsite at Galle Face Green and assaulting them after he reluctantly stepped down from the position to pave way for an interim government. A ruling party MP was also killed in the violence. This will likely increase calls for Mahinda's brother and President Gotabya Rajapajsa to also step down. Only in the Express
A day after J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha participated in prayers at the ruins of the eighth-century Martand Sun temple at Mattan in Anantnag, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Monday “expressed concern to the district administration” over the event, sources told The Indian Express. The ASI, which is the custodian of the protected monument, “deemed the incident as a violation of its rules” in its communication to the administration but has not lodged a formal complaint, the sources said. A game of cat-and-mouse is on between one of the country’s top 400m woman athletes and dope testers after her sudden improvement in timings caught the attention of a global anti-doping watchdog. Testers from the independent body have not been able to trace the athlete and she has gone incommunicado, The Indian Express has learnt. Keen to track her down, they then travelled to Mumbai and Haryana, where her personal coach hails from, but have had no luck so far in locating the athlete. From the Front Page Claiming that it is “fully cognizant of the various views” being expressed on sedition law, the Centre Monday told the Supreme Court that it “has decided to re-examine and re-consider the provisions of Section 124A (that deal with the offence)” and urged it to defer hearing on petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the law until such exercise is carried out “before an appropriate forum”. A Rocket-Proppled Grenade (RPG) was fired at the Punjab Police’s Intelligence headquarters in Mohali yesterday evening, triggering a blast at the site. There was no report of any injury caused by the attack. A wall of the building bore the maximum impact with shattered window panes strewn inside. a wall of the building bore the maximum impact with shattered window panes strewn inside. Must Read
Shubra Gupta writes about the zero sensitivity displayed by people when they realise her son has special needs. From being told to leave a restaurant because he was “too noisy”, or have mothers take their children pointedly away in parks, or being accosted by a random stranger, she has gone through the gamut. With the Congress’ three-day Chintan Shivir set to take place later this week, here’s what may be on agenda: The party can revive the Parliamentary Board mechanism to make the decision-making process collective, give a call for alignment to political parties to challenge the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and take a strong stand against the politics of hatred. The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to turn Ayodhya into a "world-class, model town" ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Among the string of projects planned are: widening of roads leading to the Ram Janmbhoomi site, installing CCTVs across the town, and fast-tracking the upcoming Maryada Purshottam Shri Ram International Airport. The Herwad gram panchayat in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district has passed a resolution banning rites associated with widowhood, such breaking bangles and social isolation. Sarpanch Shrigonda Patil says the decision was taken keeping in mind the untimely deaths due to Covid-19 and the fate of such widows. “Men as young as 25 years lost their lives and their wives were forced to observe customs associated with widowhood,” he said. And Finally... Spanish teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz has made a habit of stunning world tennis’ leading lights with his well-disguised delicate drop shots. At times, when Alcaraz has decided to dramatically drop the pace of his stroke, even the game’s best hustler, aka Nadal, and the ultimate retriever, read Djokovic, have frozen on the baseline, uncharacteristically giving up on the point. Delhi confidential: In an unusual sight, when Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal stood to speak at the national workshop on Legal Metrology Act, 2009, he read out a paragraph from Kautilya’s Arthashastra to remind the central and state officials about their responsibility. 🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss why the price of wheat has been rising. Next, we talk about the Express’ exclusive report on Ministry of Finance’s economic division working on a strategy to counter the negative coverage against India Until tomorrow,
Leela Prasad and Sonal Gupta
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