🔍Explained: The Dam Safety Bill, and why Tamil Nadu is against it

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🔍Explained: How lingering Omicron concerns could temper fuel prices

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🔍Publisher pulls American writer Alice Sebold’s 1999 memoir, Lucky — here’s why

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🔍Explained: What happened at Ghislaine Maxwell trial this week?

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🔍Explained: The second violent run-in for Sri Lanka in Pakistan and lessons for India

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Read the briefing in a single page: https://indianexpress.com/article/live-news/top-news-briefing-today-7656821/

Good morning,

🚨 *Big Story*

Two more cases of Omicron were reported in the country on Saturday, one each from Gujarat’s Jamnagar and Mumbai, taking the total to four. Both have mild symptoms of Covid. The first two cases of Omicron were reported from Bengaluru, of whom one flew out of the country. While one is a 33-year-old who travelled to India from Cape Town in South Africa, the other is a 72-year-old NRI who flew in from Zimbabwe on November 28, and is Gujarat’s first case.

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Half of the eligible population in the country is now fully vaccinated, with over 1.03 crore doses being administered on Saturday. Around 21.38 crore unutilised doses are still available with states. More than 10 lakh vaccination doses were administered on Saturday in Bihar (15.33 lakh), Tamil Nadu (14.84 lakh), Rajasthan (10.8 lakh) and Uttar Pradesh (10.24 lakh), amidst the government’s push for vaccination in the light of the new Omicron variant.

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⚡ *Only in the Express*

In April 2019, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a chargesheet on British arms agent Christian Michel’s alleged role in the AgustaWestland case — and his statements during custodial interrogation. The complete set of custodial statements, accessed by The Indian Express, reveals much more — from what Michel claims was an intervention by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to purported discussions in the Cabinet Committee on Security.

https://www.inexp.in/fwYJ+i

Speaking about the recently released Annual Status of Education Report and National Family Health Survey-5, P Chidambaram writes: “The two reports — ASER 2021 and NFHS-5 — capture the picture of real India, unlike the BSE index or the NIFTY index that capture the health of no more than 100 listed companies. These reports have been in the public domain for the last two weeks, but I cannot recall the Prime Minister or the Education Minister or the Health Minister speaking on the two subjects.”  

https://www.inexp.in/k6HaoJ

📰 *From the Front Page*

No one has visited Dilip Kumar Yadav, 30, in the two months since he was sentenced to “life till his last breath” for the rape of an eight-year-old. The conviction, on October 4, by a POCSO court is now being called by the Bihar government as “the shortest trial in the country” under the Act — lasting one day. Yadav was convicted for raping the child, a student of Class 2, on July 22. The FIR was lodged a day later and Yadav was arrested within a week. 

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👩‍💻 *Must Read*

Flagging unequal admission opportunities to Delhi University for students of different boards, a panel constituted to examine admission related issues there has recommended that admissions to the university be carried out through a Common Entrance Test, conducted either by the university through an internal arrangement or through an external agency. 

https://www.inexp.in/4mj3qs

On Friday, five of 10 crew members of a sinking barge were rescued off the coast of Goa. Nitesh Kumar Vishwakarma, one of the survivors, recalls how he narrowly escaped death after being flung into the ocean and spending more than 24 hours trying to remain afloat.  “By the time I saw the (Coast Guard) helicopter, I was just floating on water,” Vishwakarma said. “I was exhausted, I could not swim anymore. I raised my hand and shouted for help. I was not sure they had seen me…. I saw the helicopter fly past but then return soon after; they lowered it to rescue me.

https://www.inexp.in/aYE0GK

The new CEO of Twitter takes over at a time when the social media platform is negotiating the free-speech line with governments around the world, including in India. The Sunday Express traces Parag Agrawal’s journey from IIT Bombay to Stanford University to Silicon Valley and finally, Twitter. 

https://www.inexp.in/rDtbvL

With the UP elections around the corner, we follow Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as he addresses throngs of supporters from across the state. Akhilesh talks about the price rise, as well as “rising custodial deaths”, “discrimination against minorities” and “farm distress” under the Yogi Adityanath government. But while many SP supporters believe the party has a fair shot at forming government, some seem divided on whether Akhilesh will be able to bring in votes. “The crowds are coming, but let’s see how many votes Akhilesh gets,” one supporter said. 

https://www.inexp.in/CiSO7-

⌛ *And Finally…*

It was in 1961 that noted Malayalam writer M Mukundan first arrived in Delhi. In fact, seven years after he made Delhi his home, Mukundan first wrote about his beloved city in ‘Delhi’ (Current Book), his first major work that gave the young novelist a cult following in his language, Malayalam. Four decades later, he returned to mine Delhi for another novel. Delhi: A Soliloquy (Delhi Gathakal; DC Books), a translation of which won the JCB Prize for Literature last month, is a more mature work that has an epic quality. Mukundan recalls his journey in the city that grew to become his muse. 

https://www.inexp.in/NxAiwc

Until tomorrow,

Rounak Bagchi and Rahel Philipose

🔍Explained: Could the Omicron variant bring milder illness?

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🔍Explained: Big business families and succession via trusts

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🔍Explained: How is China’s crackdown changing Hong Kong’s identity?

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🔍Austria’s next chancellor: Ex-soldier, hardliner, survivor

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🔍Explained: State of Pakistan’s economy

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🔍Explained: Konyak tribe numbers make them crucial to peace talks

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🔍Explained: State of Pakistan’s economy

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🔍Explained: Konyak tribe numbers make them crucial to peace talks

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🔍Explained: State of Pakistan’s economy

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🔍Explained: Konyak tribe numbers make them crucial to peace talks

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🔍ExplainSpeaking: How policymakers in UP and the rest of India are underestimating the unemployment crisis

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Good morning,

🚨 *The Big Story*

Nagaland continued to remain tense on Sunday, a day after six civilians, all said to be coal mine workers, were killed in an ambush by security forces while they were returning home in a vehicle. The incident triggered violence in the area Saturday night and late Sunday afternoon, in which eight more civilians (seven on Saturday, and one Sunday) were killed after security forces allegedly opened fire. Shattering the relative calm in Nagaland, the killings and the subsequent violence put a question mark on peace talks.

https://www.inexp.in/TNy9hN

⚡ *Only in the Express*

Several “service contracts” signed between British middleman Christian Michel and his main client AgustaWestland were “sham contracts” to camouflage alleged kickbacks from the Rs 3,600-crore helicopter deal in India, according to documents submitted in court by the Enforcement Directorate. In its prosecution complaint, the agency said that these were meant to “create a legal facade and to route the kickbacks” under these agreements.

https://www.inexp.in/ohYj6s

To improve recovery of bad loans in the agriculture sector, leading banks have made a pitch for setting up an Asset Reconstruction Company specifically to deal with collections and recovery of farm loans. The announcement of farm loan waivers by states around elections leads to “deteriorating credit culture”, a senior banker said. Ahead of Assembly elections in seven states in 2021, there is a concern among banks that NPAs may rise in the farm sector.

https://www.inexp.in/ETx6oM

In this edition of the Idea Exchange, Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon about India and Israel coming closer post 26/11, Israel’s vaccination drive and lessons it learnt from the pandemic, the Pegasus spyware and loss of privacy.

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📰 *From the Front Page*

Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi reported cases of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 21. In Jaipur, nine persons who took part in a wedding on November 28 have tested positive for the Omicron variant, health officials said. At least 100 people had turned up for the November 28 wedding; health officials have so far collected samples of 34 people.

https://www.inexp.in/dKF1gU

👩‍💻 *Must Read*

The November 30 photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading Janata Dal Secular (JDS) supremo H D Devegowda by his hand before the two held a “cordial meeting” at Parliament House have put the spotlight on the two parties ahead of a crucial Vidhan Parishad election scheduled for December 10. The ruling BJP and the opposition JDS have shared a blow hot, blow cold relationship in Karnataka ever since the latter parted ways with the Congress in July 2019.

https://www.inexp.in/ftYD65

As the West Bengal government reaches out with a rehabilitation and compensation package to the 16 villages situated on what is estimated to be the second largest coal block in the world, there is a mix of expectation and apprehension in the region that is home to 3,010 families, including 1,013 from tribal communities. With several questions about livelihood and new homes emerging, it is found that while there is support for the project, there are some concerns as well.

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Pakistan’s GDP growth is projected to touch a 4-year high of 5% in the fiscal year ending June 2022 — at the same time, heightened inflationary risks and an imminent balance-of-payments crisis has the country teetering on the brink, dependent on external debt bailouts in order to stay afloat. The two immediate threats to the country’s $263-billion economy come from the build-up of inflationary pressures, and a payments crisis that stems from a combination of global and domestic factors.

https://www.inexp.in/gVAXSq

Eleven years after the first elephant sighting was recorded in Madhya Pradesh, a seven-member committee of wildlife experts will hold a two-day meeting in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve starting today to look for ways to address what officials say is a growing problem of human-elephant conflict. The state recorded a new high of nearly 110 elephants this year.

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⌛ *And Finally...*

It’s been two years since Rourkela was announced as the co-host of the 2023 Hockey World Cup but 2000 Olympian Lazarus Barla still finds it tough to believe that the world’s 16 best nations will play in this quiet steel city. Rourkela — divided into two separate townships, steel and civil — is using the Hockey World Cup as a catalyst to transform itself completely.

https://www.inexp.in/4m-CFo

Until tomorrow,

Leela Prasad G and Rounak Bagchi

🔍Explained: Assam Rifles’ dual control structure, and its role  

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