Daily Briefing: India readies response to Pahalgam
Good morning,
With the much-anticipated England Test series set to begin in late June, India's leadership puzzle is gaining intrigue. Jasprit Bumrah, the current vice-captain, is unlikely to feature in all five Tests as part of a broader workload management strategy. Despite leading India to their solitary win during their tour in Australia, Bumrah's role could be limited this time. Sources suggest the selectors are wary of the ace seamer's injury-prone past and want a leader who will play the whole series. They also want a younger face as the vice-captain, opening the doors for rising stars like Shubman Gill or Rishabh Pant.
On that note, let's get to today's edition.
Big Story
India's response to Pakistan in the wake of the April 21 Pahalgam terror attack is gathering pace. The Air Force and Navy chiefs briefed the Prime Minister on their preparedness on Sunday. This comes even as India has stepped up its diplomatic measures against Pakistan over the weekend. These measures included a complete ban on all imports from Pakistan, the suspension of all postal services to and from the country, and a ban on Pakistani ships from docking at Indian ports.
Escalation: Reports indicate that Pakistan has placed its troops along the Line of Control (LoC) on high alert and has prepared detachments of heavy weapons in response to these developments. Ever since the attack, Pakistan has been constantly violating the ceasefire along the LoC with unprovoked firing. According to the Army, these violations, which were previously confined to one or two sectors, have now spread across multiple sectors, particularly in areas where Pakistani troops hold the terrain advantage.
Only in Express
Kiren Rijiju helms the Ministry of Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs at a critical juncture for India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack and the Waqf Amendment Bill. Rijiju joined us for the latest edition of Idea Exchange to speak about the challenges going forward and to give an inside view on the government deliberations on these matters.
From the Front Page
What's cooking? In a significant scientific breakthrough, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said it has developed the world's first genome-edited (GE) rice varieties. These varieties offer superior yields, drought tolerance, and high nitrogen-use efficiency traits. Crucially, GE differs from 'genetic modification' (GM) of plants as it does not introduce foreign DNA to the host.
Frosty relations: India suspended the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty, which divided the waters of six rivers between India and Pakistan, last week. But even before the treaty was put in abeyance, scientists had discussed redrawing it, factoring in climate change. Leading glaciologist Anil V Kulkarni sheds light on the glaring gaps in the IWT.
Must Read
Steal: In 2019, JSW Steel Ltd acquired the debt-ridden Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) for a whopping Rs 19,350 crore. Four years later, the Supreme Court rejected JSW Steel's resolution plan for BPSL, marking a shocking end to the longest-running insolvency saga in India. The court has ordered BPSL's liquidation, which, if carried through, would be the biggest-ever liquidation in the history of the corporate sector. What does this mean for JSW Steel and the future of BPSL? We break it down for you.
Cracks: The ambitious Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project (KLIP) in Telangana was to be the biggest of its kind in the world. A brainchild of then-Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, work on KLIP, the 'crown jewel' of his BRS government, began in June 2019. Four years on, the new Congress government in the state calls it the 'biggest man-made disaster since Independence', questioning its structural integrity. Read our explainer on what's ailing the Kaleshwaram project.
And Finally…
Meet the latest victim of the Trump tariff saga: films! He proclaimed that the American movie industry was 'dying' in the face of incentives offered by other countries to draw studios away from the US. To counter this 'national security threat,' the Trump administration plans to impose 100 per cent tariffs on 'any and all movies produced in foreign lands.' The announcement has left many things unclear. Does this include foreign-language films? What of films produced in the US but shot across international locales?
🎧 Don't miss the latest episode of the '3 Things' podcast. Today's lineup: The caste census debate, a water-sharing row between Punjab and Haryana, and the suspension of Air India flights to Tel Aviv.
That's all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta
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