In today’s edition: Maldives vs Lakshadweep on social media; militants behind Jammu attacks; JD(U) on INDIA alliance and Congress; India’s GDP numbers; the return of a ‘dead’ man; and more
🚨 Big Story
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promotion of Lakshadweep on his social media handles triggered an unexpected response — a social media war between from Maldivian politicians, government officials and Indian social media users.
With the situation fast turning into a diplomatic row, the Maldives government suspended three ministers for making derogatory remarks about PM Modi and the people of India. Interestingly, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s party came to power last year on an ‘India Out’ poll campaign.
⚡ Only in Express
Alerted by the US over a threat on Nikhil Gupta’s life, Czech authorities transferred the Indian national arrested in Prague six months ago for his alleged involvement in a plot to kill Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, to solitary confinement in the Pankrác prison, The Indian Express has learnt.
📰 From the Front Page
Around 15-20 Pakistani terrorists are suspected to be present in the Jammu-Poonch-Rajouri region, sources told The Indian Express. Security forces believe that two groups – comprising militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad – have been involved in ambushes that have killed about 25 personnel since October 2021.
INDIA alliance is “running out of time and ideas” to outthink the BJP-led NDA, the JD(U) has said. “It is Congress that has to show urgency to see a vibrant INDIA bloc,” JD(U) chief national spokesperson K C Tyagi told The Indian Express.
👩💻 Must Read
Last week, Basilo Pires was out for a stroll when he noticed a familiar face walking towards him — his neighbour Milagres Gonsalves. In October, after the police found a body in Goa’s Panaji, Gonsalves was officially declared dead. Read about Gonsalves’ return, a tattoo, a scar and a case of a mistaken identity.
On January 3, among the galaxy of women achievers on stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kerala’s Thrissur district, was one person who stood out in her snow-white chattayum mundum (a traditional attire) – Mariyakutty, an 87 daily-wage labourer from Idukki who grabbed headlines last November as she took on the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Front government over the delay in her pension disbursal. Meet the fiery lady dubbed ‘Magistrate Mariyakutty’.
First Advance Estimates of India’s GDP are out, and they show that the country’s GDP will grow by 7.3% in the current financial year (2023-24), slightly faster than the 7.2% growth in 2022-23. Udit Misra dissects what these numbers mean.
In our Opinion section today, economists Ashok Gulati and Shyma Jose argue that while the decline in multidimensional poverty is good news, income poverty, which has remained defiantly high for the last five years, must be fixed.
⌛ And Finally…
From rural Tamil Nadu, a 3-girl BTS army embarked on a dream last week with a simple plan – take a train from Erode to Chennai. Get to Visakhapatnam somehow. Then a ship, all the way to South Korea. Arun Janardhanan chronicles the daring tale and the girls’ rescue.
Delhi confidential: Politically, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are at loggerheads over the latter’s entry into INDIA bloc. However, recently, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav attended the wedding of ex-BSP MP Afzal Ansari’s daughter, sparking speculation.
🎧 In today’s episode of ‘3 things’ podcast, we track the status of ISRO’s Aditya at ‘L-1’, the latest on Gen Naravane’s memoir, and updates on the Maldives-India row.
Until tomorrow,
Navmi Krishna and Sonal Gupta