What a governor can (or can't) do, Maratha quota demand, and measles vaccine

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 6th of March and here are today's headlines.


The Calcutta HC once again directed the West Bengal government to transfer the probe into the attack on ED officials in Sandeshkhali to CBI by 4.15 pm today. The court ordered the state police to hand over the custody of accused TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh to the central agency.vDespite HC orders, the government had refused to hand over the case and Sheikh to the CBI on Tuesday. The court told the state government to “immediately implement” its Tuesday’s judgement after the ED moved a contempt petition before a division bench.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met a group of women from Sandeshkhali, where allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders have been levelled. He said the “storm” induced by the recent violence in Sandeshkhali “will reach every part of West Bengal”. He arrived in Kolkata this morning, where he inaugurated the Howrah Maidan- Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor — India’s first-ever underwater metro route.

The Supreme Court today slammed former Uttarakhand forest minister and divisional forest officer for “causing heavy damage to the environment for some political and commercial gains” over illegal construction and felling of trees at the Jim Corbett National Park. The bench said, quote, "This is a classic case that shows how the politicians and the bureaucrats have thrown the public trust doctrine in the dustbin”. Unquote.

The Madras High Court today dismissed petitions challenging the continuation of Tamil Nadu ministers Udhayanidhi Stalin and Sekar Babu as legislators over their remarks on ‘Sanatana Dharma’. The court said that in equating ‘Sanatana Dharma’ to HIV, malaria, and dengue, Stalin acted against the Constitutional principles and spread misinformation. The Supreme Court earlier on Monday slammed Stalin over his controversial remarks that ‘Sanatana Dharma’ ought to be “eradicated” from the country, stating that he had abused his free speech rights.

Days after the Ministry of External Affairs said India is trying its best for an “early discharge” of around 20 Indians working as support staff to the Russian army, a group of seven men have released a new video claiming they are being forced by Russia to fight the Ukraine war against their will. In the now-viral video, the seven men can be seen inside a room, wearing army uniforms. The video, recorded in a room with a closed window, shows six of them standing in a corner as another talks about their situation.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

A recent Lancet study suggests that India may be on the brink of an obesity epidemic, especially concerning its youth. The study's global analysis indicates that 2.5 million children in the country, aged between five and 19, were grossly overweight in 2022, up from 0.4 million in 1990. This discovery carries weight as India already grapples with a heavy burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, strokes, and heart disease.

So in this episode, we are taking a break from our usual programming and bringing you a conversation about heart diseases that took place between Indian Express’ National Health Editor Kaunain Sheriff and Dr Ambuj Roy, professor of cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He explains the factors that cause heart problems and what we can do to prevent them.

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Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 5th of March and here are the top stories of the week.


The Indian Embassy in Israel has issued an advisory for Indian nationals working in Israel, especially in border areas, to relocate to safe areas within the country. The Embassy said they are in touch with the Israel authorities to ensure the safety of all its nationals. The Indian Embassy also shared a helpline number and e-mail address for clarification. It comes hours after one Indian national was killed and two others injured after an anti-tank missile allegedly fired from Lebanon struck Israel’s Margaliot. All three victims are from Kerala.

Hours after resigning as a judge of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay Tuesday announced that he will be joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.He sent his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu with copies to CJI DY Chandrachud and the Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC TS Sivagnanam. He has announced a couple of days earlier that he would be entering the field of politics.

IT and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said today that Google has agreed to restore delisted Indian apps on its Play Store and will work on a solution to the contentious payment issue. Google and startups had multiple rounds of discussion with the government on Monday, following which the tech giant agreed to restore the delisted apps.

In a major relief for Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, the Supreme Court today quashed proceedings initiated against him in a 2018 money laundering case. The Karnataka Deputy CM and four others were investigated by the ED following a preliminary complaint filed in 2018 on the basis of a 2017 I-T department investigation into the income and assets of Shivakumar.

Stepping up his anti-India rhetoric, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has affirmed that no Indian military personnel, not even those in civilian clothing, would be present inside his country after 10th of May. Muizzu’s statement comes less than a week after an Indian civilian team reached the Maldives to take charge of one of the three aviation platforms in the island nation, well ahead of the deadline agreed by the two nations for the withdrawal of Indian military personnel.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

First, Indian Express’ Anonna Dutt discusses Gaganyaan, India's inaugural crewed space mission, outlining the current progress and the impending challenges it will confront.

Next, Indian Express’ Adrija Roychowdhury tells us about the archaeological attempts that have been made to locate Dwarka Nagari – the mythological kingdom of Lord Krishna as depicted in the Mahabharata (10:35).

And in the end, we give you a quick update about TMC MLA Tapas Roy resigning from his post (22:12).

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This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 4th of March and here are today's headlines.

The Supreme Court today overruled its 1998 majority ruling in the JMM bribery case in which the apex court had said that members of Parliament and state legislatures were immune from prosecution for accepting bribes for voting or speaking in a certain manner in the House. The court said, quote, “corruption and bribery by members of the legislature erode probity in public life”. The question had arisen in the context of bribery charges against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLA Sita Soren in connection with the 2012 Rajya Sabha election to two seats from the state.

Several senior BJP leaders todayy took to X and added ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ (Modi’s family) in their social media handle usernames. This comes as a statement in solidarity with their party’s top leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi after RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav’s ‘no family’ remark. The leaders who have done this so far include Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda, Union Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari among others.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said today that a huge country like India cannot remain dependent on import of military hardware as such dependency can be “fatal” for its strategic autonomy. Singh added that the annual volume of domestic defence production has crossed the record figure of Rs 1 lakh crore which was nearly Rs 44,000 crore around 2014. He further stated that India had to face “trouble” in “difficult times” in the past due to its reliance on defence imports.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to the Enforcement Directorate, saying that he was ready to answer the probe agency’s questions. The ED had summoned the AAP leader for the eighth time today in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. Seeking a date after 12th of March, Kejriwal said, quote “ED summons are legally invalid and illegal… I wrote letters to them but they haven’t replied to any of my letters. As per law, ED proceedings are like judicial proceedings. I am ready to give answers through video conferencing.” Unquote.

As many as 81 tourists stranded in Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti Valley due to closure of roads after heavy snowfall have been shifted to safer places. Meanwhile, over 650 roads, including five national highways, in the state remained closed for vehicular movement today following several avalanches and landslides caused by incessant rain and snow for the past three days, according to the state emergency operation centre.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express

First, Indian Express’ Kiran Parashar joins us to talk about the blast that happened at the Rameshwaram cafe in Bengaluru.

Second, we talk to Indian Express' Abhinaya Harigovind about the demolition of the house of Vakeel Hasan, the man who led the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation. (8:55)

Lastly, we talk about veteran BJP leader Dr Harsh Vardhan exiting politics . (13:59)

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This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 1st of March and here are the top stories of the week.

The week began with the Rajya Sabha election show on Tuesday. Cross-voting by Congress and SP MLAs took centrestage which resulted in BJP victories and dramatic upsets for Congress and SP in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. It was followed by the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh facing a risk of collapse after six of its MLAs voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh.

The Trinamool Congress has decided to suspend for six years its party leader Shahjahan Sheikh, the main accused in the Sandeshkhali land-grab and sexual assault allegations. The TMC strongman in Sandeshkhali had been on the run for the last 55 days, and was arrested by the West Bengal Police early on Thursday. Following his court appearance, the TMC leader was brought to the CID headquarters at Bhavani Bhawan in Kolkata. According to sources, the case is likely to be handed over to the CID.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla as India’s astronauts-designate for Gaganyaan, India’s first crewed space mission. All four Indian Air Force officers have had extensive experience as test pilots and are currently in training for the mission. Modi, who bestowed them with the prestigious astronaut wings, described them as “four forces” who represent the aspirations and optimism of 1.4 billion Indians.

Days after stating that the government was “actively pursuing” cases of Indians seeking discharge from the Russian Army, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said 20-odd people are stranded in the country. Asserting that the government was trying its level best for their early discharge, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Indians in Russia have been advised not to venture into the war zone or get caught into situations which are difficult.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved three chip-related projects worth around Rs 1.26 lakh crore, including what could be India’s first semiconductor fabrication plant. The Tata Group will set up the foundry in partnership with Taiwan based Powerchip (PSMC) at an estimated cost of Rs 91,000 crore in Gujarat. The plant will have a capacity to produce 300 crore chips every year, which will cater to industries like high-performance computing, electric vehicles, defence, and consumer electronics, among other things.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

First, Indian Express’ Raakhi Jagga joins us to talk about the farmers protest and the zero FIR that has been lodged.

Second, we talk to Indian Express' Anonna Dutt about the Genome India Project and its significance. (11:46)

Lastly, we give an update on the situation in Manipur. (20:21)

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Written and Produced by Shashank Bhargava and Niharika Nanda
Edited and Mixed by Suresh Pawar

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 29th of February and here are the headlines on leap day.

Weeks before the general elections, the Indian Express today released IE 100, the list of the 100 most powerful Indians this year. For the seventh year running, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah remain No. 1 and 2 in the power list, with the top 10 comprising all RSS/BJP names, barring Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. Business titan Gautam Adani, climbed into the top 10 from No. 33 in his bounce-back from the Hindenburg controversy.

Absconding Trinamool Congress leader and the party’s strongman in Sandeshkhali Shahjahan Sheikh was arrested by the West Bengal Police today. He was sent to police custody for 10 days by a local court. Following his court appearance, the TMC leader, who had been on the run since the last 55 days, was brought to the CID headquarters in Kolkata. According to sources, the case is likely to be handed over to the CID.

A special court in Ajmer today acquitted Abdul Karim ‘Tunda’ in the 1993 serial blasts case. Two other accused, Irfan and Hameeduddin have been sentenced to life imprisonment. All three were accused in the serial bomb blasts that took place in trains at Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai on December 6, 1993. The lawyer for the accused said they would appeal the sentence given to Irfan and Hameeduddin in the Supreme Court.

Aviation regulator DGCA today imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India for the incident where an 80-year-old passenger collapsed and later died after walking from plane to terminal at the Mumbai airport after not getting a wheelchair. The incident happened on February 12. A senior official at the DGCA today said, quote “Air India did not inform about any action taken by the airline against the erring employee(s) and the airline also failed to submit any corrective actions taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future,” Unquote.

Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral part of India and the measures taken there are matters internal to the country, India told Pakistan at the United Nations. India made the statement while exercising its ‘Right of Reply’ to Pakistan’s comments on New Delhi at the High-Level Segment of the 55th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council. First Secretary Anupama Singh, speaking at the session, added that New Delhi cannot pay attention to “a country that speaks while being soaked in red.”

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

First, Indian Express’ Deeptiman Tiwary tells how the rules for implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) are likely to be notified within the next fortnight or so.

Next, Indian Express’ Pallavi Smart discusses the Maharashtra government diluting the obligations required by private schools under the Right To Education (RTE) Act (14:30).

And in the end, Indian Express’ Sadaf Modak explains why the release of the Netflix docuseries ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ has been pushed back (19:45).

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Produced and written by Shashank Bhargava and Niharika Nanda
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar