The Big Story
A Three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court will now hear the batch of petitions challenging the ban on the use of hijab a few pre-university colleges in the state, after a single-judge bench of the court had decided to refer the pleas to a larger bench saying the case involved larger Constitutional issues. Significantly, the constitution of a larger bench is contrary to the Karnataka High Court rules, which prescribe that a reference to a full bench can be made only by a two-judge bench. The larger bench hearing also takes away a layer of intra-court appeal.
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New Delhi and Colombo are discussing a proposal for the supply of two Dornier aircraft for the Sri Lankan military. In an interview with The Indian Express, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister GL Peiris said: “There is a proposal for the purchase of two Dornier aircraft. There is no finality, nothing has been agreed upon.” There is a proposal for the purchase of two Dornier aircraft. There is no finality, nothing has been agreed upon.
From the Front Page
“In Hindustan, there are always elections, so should the government stop working?” That was Prime Minister Narendra Modi referring to that central agencies, such asED and CBI, haras Opposition leaders during election time. His solution: “one nation, one election”. “Then, ED or CBI won’t be conspicuous at all…,” he said.
A parliamentary panel headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has questioned senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the revocation of the broadcast license of Malayalam news channel MediaOne over security concerns. Details of House panel proceedings are not disclosed on the ground that it’s privileged information.
The first pandemic year, 2020, saw the highest number of suicides among the unemployed in the recent past, with the toll crossing the 3,000-mark for the first time, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. The highest number of suicides among the unemployed in 2020 was reported from Karnataka (720), followed by Maharashtra (625), Tamil Nadu (336), Assam (234), and Uttar Pradesh (227).
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For around two nights and a day, 23-year-old R Babu perched precariously on the edge of a small cavity on the side of 1,000-feet-high Kurumbachi hill as the whole of Kerala waited with bated breath for him to be rescued. After several failed attempts by the NDRF and Coast Guard, the Army was called in to save the boy. And on Wednesday morning, Babu was lifted out of the cavity and to the top of the hill, from where a chopper airlifted him to the district hospital.
More than 3,000 km away from Karnataka, where a controversy over the hijab is playing out, some Muslim students at Juria High School in Assam find themselves in a similar quandary, caught between the duty to their families and religious beliefs to wear the hijab, and the school rules. Begum, a Class 9 student, says it would be “much less hassle” if the hijab was allowed in school, but adds: “Rules are rules, our teachers have a point too.” Another student says she “feels bad” since the hijab is a “part of her identity”.
Next, Parinitha Shetty, a professor at Mangalore University, writes on how classrooms must celebrate diversity instead of imposing dress codes: “This inclusive nature of the classroom space is one of its greatest contributions to the process of learning. It is this accommodation of the variety of social locations from which our students come that has contributed to the civil discussions and debates and conversations through which the process of thinking is initiated.”
In this week’s ExplainSpeaking-Economy newsletter, Udit Mishra takes a look at how poll-bound states compare on unemployment among the youth, educated and women. Data show that UP is far behind the national average on all three counts, and has seen a sharp decline over the last five years. Meanwhile, while youth employment rates in Punjab are much better than the national average, the fact remains that they have been coming down over the past five years.
And finally
Bhojpuri artiste Neha Singh Rathore’s videos listing the many problems that plague her home state Bihar and neighboring Uttar Pradesh rattled the state government and made her the subject of vicious trolling. Friends have been urging her not to step out alone, and to keep her face covered, but the 24-year-old says she is done being afraid. Her aim is simple: to show the world that bhojpuri songs are more than just “blouse hooks and lehenga strings”.
Delhi Confidential: A health and fitness enthusiast himself, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s latest initiative is a canteen in the ministry that serves nutritious and healthy food options. On the first day, the canteen served moong dal cheela with peas. Significantly, an additional secretary will oversee the daily menu.
In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcastwe discuss the unemployment crisis in poll-bound states, the JNU VC controversy, and the Hyundai row.
Until tomorrow,
Leela Prasad G and Rachel Philipose
Express Cartoon by EP Unny.
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