Daily Briefing: PM Modi in Germany says no winners in Ukraine war; India confirms first case of Omicron sub-variant XE

Meanwhile, ahead of PM Modi’s scheduled visit to France, French defence major Naval Group has announced that it is unable to participate in the P-75 India (P-75I) project under which six conventional submarines are to be built in India for the Indian Navy. The group, one of the five shortlisted international players for the Rs 43,000-crore project, said it cannot meet conditions of the Request for Proposal (RFP) and will, therefore, not continue with its bid.

Only in The Express

C Raja Mohan, in his weekly column, writes that PM Modi’s European tour can build on the new paradigm beckoning India — strong commercial and security partnerships in the region that stand on their own merit.

India’s new Principal Scientific Advisor, Professor Ajay K Sood, talks about the elements of his vision — including a focus on future vaccinations, and perhaps India’s own SpaceX.

From the Front Page

A new FIR filed by the Karnataka CID on alleged cheating in exams to recruit 545 police sub-inspectors includes names of seven of the top 10 rank holders (state-wide) in the exam as accused in the case. It named 22 candidates who took the exam in seven centres in Bengaluru as the new accused. It emerged that candidates who took the exam at a school owned and operated by a BJP leader scored high marks in the objective section despite answering very few questions.

A day after SpiceJet’s Mumbai-Durgapur flight encountered severe turbulence, causing serious injuries to several passengers with two of them in an ICU, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation constituted a “multi-disciplinary team” to investigate the incident and said it will inspect the entire SpiceJet fleet. Pending the probe’s findings, the regulator de-rostered the Gurgaon-based airline’s cabin and cockpit crew who were on that flight.

Must Read

India is staring at a power crisis, induced by a debilitating fuel shortage at coal-fired thermal plants, which make up nearly 70 per cent of the country’s baseload power generation capacity. While supply chains have been disrupted due to the Ukraine war, the biggest trigger for shortages is the unprecedented heat wave in north and west India that has boosted the demand for electricity. We take a look at the coal shortage and how heat wave added to the power demand.

India’s first case of Omicron sub-variant XE has been confirmed by INSACOG, a network of national testing labs. As of now, experts say, there is no evidence to suggest that it causes a different Covid infection than the one caused by the other Omicron sub-lineages. A government official said, “it has no public health significance unless we see it spreading faster” or causing severe disease.

The flags of three parties, the CPI(M), TMC and BJP, flutter at the Taherpur civic body – the only one in West Bengal to be held by the CPI(M). Dependent on the state government, the party realises that the only way it can stay alive is by displaying some political pragmatism. “The TMC’s councillors have told us that they will stand by us and help us get funds for projects,” says Uttamananda Das, CPM leader and the Taherpur civic body’s chairman, stressing the political bonhomie.

And Finally…

From lifting sacks of 50-kg rice as a 12-year-old in Pune’s Wadgaon village, Harshada Garud has come a long way. Monday, she became the first Indian to win a weightlifting gold in the Junior World Championship held in Greece. Harshada was encouraged to take up weightlifting by her father and his maternal uncle, both of whom nurtured dreams of competing internationally but never could.

Delhi confidential: On the back of BJP’s decisive victory in Uttar Pradesh, the Muslim-dominated district of Rampur has received a basket of infrastructure treats. Beginning this week, it will host its own “Amrit Sarovar” in Patwai, with the Prime Minister having promised 75 sarovars/lakes for every district.

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 things’ podcast, we discuss the significance of PM Modi’s 3-day Europe visit and Swiggy’s trials for drone deliveries. Lastly, we go over the details of a religious event in Aligarh that has brought its organisers under the scanner.

Until tomorrow
Leela Prasad and Sonal Gupta

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