Daily briefing: CBI to probe Manipur sexual assault video; Modi, Xi stabilising India-China relations; and more

🚨 Big Story

🔴 As pressure mounts on the government over the Manipur sexual assault video, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the investigation into the issue will be handed over to the CBI. The Centre will request the Supreme Court to allow the trial to be moved out of the state to Assam, Shah told media.

🔴 During a press briefing, Shah further said that the individual who allegedly recorded the video has been apprehended and the mobile phone that was used to record it has been retrieved. The recovery of the phone and its forensics will help connect the dots and expose the “chain” of complicity, Shah said.

🔴Meanwhile, the 26-party Opposition INDIA alliance said it will send a multi-party delegation of MPs to Manipur over the weekend. Congress leaders, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Gaurav Gogoi, DMK’s Kanimozhi, NCP’s Vandana Chavan and RSP’s N K Premachandran are expected to be a part of it, sources told Manoj C G.

⚡ Only in Express

Who is a good leader? Is the world a better place than it was before? What’s liberal and what’s conservative? How do we deal with trauma and stress? These were some of the questions that Gaur Gopal Das addressed at the recently-held Express Adda in Mumbai. The author and motivational speaker said that today, spirituality has become a means for people to sort out their inner issues and to look for meaning and purpose.

📰 From the Front Page

Eight months after PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Bali, the government revealed that the two leaders had spoken about the “need to stabilise bilateral relations”. Meanwhile, India has withdrawn its wushu (martial art) team from the World University Games, being held in China’s Chengdu, after three athletes were issued stapled, not stamped, visas as they were from Arunachal Pradesh.

“Invisible security”, not “overwhelming” deployment, and “unified command” instead of “diffused responsibility” – these are the changes Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora wants for the upcoming G20 Summit in September. Ride along as Express’s Mahender Singh Manral takes us through the security “trial run” that took place two days ago.

As roads and bridges across India crumbled under monsoon fury, Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government is considering building concrete roads, instead of asphalt ones, in areas prone to natural disasters.

👩‍💻 Must read

Malik Mohd Ahmad Khan, Special Assistant on Defence to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has said in an interview that Pakistani smugglers are using drones to send drugs across the border to India. Why does this matter? Well, this is the first time a senior Pakistan official has corroborated allegations that Pakistani peddlers are using hi-tech means to pour narcotics into the country.

“We will definitely try to see that Narendra Modi doesn’t become the PM for the third time”: In an interview with The Indian Express, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi spoke on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AIMIM being ignored by the INDIA coalition and the Uniform Civil Code.

✍️ In our Opinions section, G N Devy writes on ‘award wapsi’: “In 1964, Jean Paul Sartre declined to accept the Nobel Prize for Literature given to him. None of the official records of the Swedish Academy or French government have ever censured Sartre. They understand that writers and artists function as the conscience of the people and have the courage to challenge the state.”

⌛ And finally

In a neighbourhood in Bhadohi’s Badi Bazaar, everyone had heard about the city’s connection to the new Parliament: the exquisite hand-knotted carpets adorning the floors of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha halls were hand-knotted by 900 skilled artisans in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi for over 10 lakh man hours. Find out the stories behind the hands that weaved magic.

🤫 Find out which non-BJP Lok Sabha MP filed nominations for the AMU court elections, and why the Opposition’s black dress protest seems to have irritated the ruling party, only in today’s Delhi Confidential!

🎧 In the latest episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss the main features of Rajasthan’s Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, why Indian cities can’t handle heavy rainfall, and a case of double theft.

Until next time,
Navmi Krishna and Arushi Bhaskar