Daily Briefing: The big global outreach

Indian Express

21-05-2025

Good morning,
Let me transport you to Paris for a moment. Think of the iconic Louvre Museum, the shiny glass pyramid right at the city's heart along the banks of the River Seine. The Indian government is keen on a similar glass structure for the upcoming Yuge Yugeen National Museum in Delhi. It will likely be a massive glass dome. A part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project, the museum, once completed, is expected to overtake the Louvre as the 'largest museum in the world' and add a modern sparkle to this historic landmark.
On that note, let's get to today's edition.
Three Indian delegations have set out on a global tour to rally support for the country's war against terror emanating from Pakistan. Starting today, teams led by JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha, Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde and DMK's Kanimozhi will visit Japan, South Korea, Russia, Spain, and the UAE, among others, over the next two weeks. Seven multi-party contingents will travel to 32 countries, including United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members. They will meet lawmakers, government workers, think tanks and academics as part of the outreach.
On agenda: The main objective of this global exercise is to dispel misinformation about India's Operation Sindoor, underlining the country's 'new normal' in response to cross-border terrorism. The delegations are also ready to explain India's stand on the Indus Waters Treaty. The bottom line? Countries must not equate India and Pakistan. One is a victim of terror, and the other a perpetrator.
Political wrangle: This diplomatic crusade was not without its share of internal politics. The Congress party was miffed that its recommended leaders were not part of the delegations. The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, reached a consensus with the Centre, replacing their pick, Yusuf Pathan, with its second-in-command, Abhishek Banerjee. The government also managed to smooth things out with the Shiv Sena (UBT), whose spokesman had earlier called the Opposition parties to abandon the exercise.
'Self-goal': In openly opposing the inclusion of its senior members in these delegations, the Congress party may have scored a 'self-goal', writes columnist Neerja Chowdhury. She also examines how a fractured political terrain has made a working relationship between the Opposition and the government impossible. Read on.
For more on the diplomatic outreach, tune in to today's episode of the '3 Things' podcast.
Troubled waters: The Jal Jeevan mission began in 2019 with an ambitious aim to provide individual tap connections and drinking water supply to each rural household. Six years later, this is proving to be a costly exercise for the government, prompting the Expenditure Secretary to recommend a 46 per cent cut in the Jal Shakti ministry's proposed additional funding. The Centre has also sent out 100 inspection teams. The Indian Express investigated and found that a tweak in tender guidelines three years ago may have resulted in cost escalations. We scrutinised the details of over 1 lakh schemes between 2022 and 2024 to understand the math. Here's what we found.
The North Star: One of the most celebrated Indian astrophysicists, Jayant Narlikar, passed away Tuesday morning in Pune at 87. My colleague Amitabh Sinha writes a fitting tribute to the man who sought to change how the world views its origins.
Among his best-known works, Narlikar developed an alternative to the 'Big Bang' theory with his PhD advisor Fred Hoyle. Unlike the Big Bang theory, which envisions a beginning and possibly an end to the universe, Hoyle and Narlikar's steady-state theory espouses that the universe has always been, and would continue to be, the way it is.
Trump-proof: The United States favoured bilateral dialogue between Delhi and Rawalpindi on Kashmir for years, avoiding direct mediation. That changed in 2019, when the Donald Trump administration intervened to de-escalate tensions after the Pulwama terror attack and India's Balakot strikes. Cut to 2025: Trump was quick to claim credit for brokering a ceasefire, invoking trade ties with both nations, despite the stark difference in scale. India's annual trade exceeds $1 trillion, while Pakistan's is around $90 billion. In his weekly column, C Raja Mohan argues that Delhi must look beyond Trump-era policies to safeguard the deeper structural and strategic ties with the US.
Hi-tech: Are slow WiFi speeds troubling you? In a game-changing move, the government has decided to open up license-free use of a portion of the 6 GHz spectrum band. This long-standing demand of major tech companies like Sony, Apple and Meta was opposed by telecom giants. The high-speed internet would support devices like Sony PlayStation Pro and Meta's virtual reality gear. Know more about it.
Karnataka-based activist writer Banu Mushtaq has created history with her short story collection Heart Lamp, translated to English by Deepa Bhasthi, winning the prestigious International Booker Prize 2025. It is the first short story anthology to win the 'translated fiction' award. It's also the first book, originally written in Kannada, to bag a Booker. The 12 tales in Heart Lamp chronicle women's lives in patriarchal communities in southern India.
That's all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta