Your Daily Wrap: India rejects US report on attack on minorities, 17-yr-old gang-raped in Hyderabad; and more
The Ministry of External Affairs has reacted sharply to the US State Department’s report alleging attacks on minorities in India, calling it “ill-informed comments” by senior US officials. In a statement, the MEA said: “We have noted the release of the US State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, and ill-informed comments by senior US officials. It is unfortunate that vote bank politics is being practised in international relations. We would urge that assessments based on motivated inputs and biased views be avoided.”
In Hyderabad, a 17-year-old was gang-raped in a car by five minor boys she met at a non-alcoholic party at a pub on last Saturday. Four police teams are now on the hunt for the minors. Facing criticism for delaying arrests in the case, the police have reportedly seized a car belonging to one of the accused.
A massive victory registered by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in the Champawat bypoll has both secured his post as the chief minister of the state. In the Champawat bypoll, Dhami received 58,258 votes (92.94 per cent) in total and confirmed victory with a margin of over 55,000 votes over Congress candidate Nirmala Gahtori.
As the Rajya Sabha race hots up, the BJP in Maharashtra has refused to withdraw its third candidate from the elections, setting the stage for a contest for the sixth seat, a scenario the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi had been trying to avoid. Meanwhile, in Haryana, the Congress has decided to shift its MLAs to a resort in Naya Raipur, under the careful eye of Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda. Deepender has been given the charge of guarding the numbers at a time when the Rajya Sabha results for the two Haryana seats has emerged as a prestige issue for father and Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda. But in some respite to the Congress, its nominees Rajeev Shukla and Ranjeet Ranjan have been elected unopposed to the Upper House from Chhattisgarh.
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PremiumPrime Minister Narendra Modi was in Uttar Pradesh today to lay foundation stones for projects worth Rs 80,000 crore. Addressing the Uttar Pradesh Investors’ Summit in Lucknow, the PM said that the state will be a driving force for India in the next 10 years, giving momentum to India’s growth story. Modi also addressed an event at President Ram Nath Kovind’s ancestral village Paraunkh, where he said dynastic politics is throttling talent in the country.
In tech news, Twitter today said the waiting period under the HSR Act for Elon Musk’s $44-billion acquisition of the social media firm has expired. Completion of the deal is now subject to remaining customary closing conditions, including approval by Twitter stockholders and the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, it said.
In an interview with Nandagopal Rajan for Express Audio’s Our Own Devices podcast, Tony Fadell, the man who created the iconic iPod, speaks about entrepreneurship, designing for customers and innovation. Read the full interview here.
It’s Friday and so it’s time for movie reviews. This week, we review Akshay Kumar-Manushi Chhillar starrer Samrat Prithviraj, Kamal Haasan’s Vikram, Elsa Pataky’s Interceptor, streaming on Netflix, and Season 3 of web series Aashram. Are they worth watching? Read to decide.
Political Pulse
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat packed several messages in one address before a gathering of swayamsevaks in Nagpur Thursday. Party leaders say his address “was a very clever warning to hardliners that are seeking to raise disputes regarding every other monument or mosque.”
The Congress party’s resounding victory in the bye-election to the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency in Kerala’s Ernakulam district has given a jolt to the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front. The Congress’s nominee Uma Thomas won Thrikkakara seat, which her husband had represented since 2016, defeating the CPI(M)’s candidate Dr Jo Joseph by over 25,000 votes. Uma’s victory margin is the highest-ever since the formation of the Thrikkakara constituency in 2011.
Express Explained
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a batch of petitions against excavation and construction work by the Odisha government along the Puri Jagannath temple as part of the Puri Heritage Corridor Project, calling the pleas “frivolous”. What is the Puri Heritage Corridor case about? What is the construction in question? We explain.
Every year, the Martin Ennals Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland, gives out an award that is regarded as the Nobel Prize for human rights defenders. The recipients of this year’s awards include Daouda Diallo from Burkina Faso, Pham Doan Trang from Vietnam and Abdul-Hadi Al-Khawaja of Bahrain. In a special move, the Foundation decided to posthumously pay homage to Father Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist from Jharkhand who passed away in July 2021. Who was Martin Ennals, and why is the foundation paying tribute to Father Stan Swamy? Read here.
