Daily Briefing: Govt wants nominee on panel to choose judges; political parties oppose remote voting plan; and more

Amid the tug of war between the Centre and Supreme Court Collegium over the appointment of judges, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has written to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud “suggesting” the inclusion of a government nominee in the decision-making process for shortlisting of judges. Several Opposition parties, however, criticised the Government for what they said was an attempt to “intimidate and thereafter capture” the judiciary.

Meanwhile, the Centre has accused the Opposition of running a “negative campaign” to “damage the Prime Minister personally”. The BJP, in its political resolution proposed at the two-day national executive meeting which began on Monday, said the “issues… were negated by the legal response” of the Supreme Court. “The intention of the Prime Minister has been cleared… Prime Minister Modi is seen as an incorruptible leader who works for the country,” said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Only in the Express

Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) has moved a Delhi court seeking an investigation into former Fortis Healthcare promoters Malvinder Singh and his brother Shivinder Singh, as well as their wives Japna Kaur and Aditi Singh, for allegedly paying a bribe of Rs 200 crore to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar to secure the brothers’ bail, The Indian Express has learnt. 

From the Front Page 

Nearly all political parties that attended a meeting called by the Election Commission to discuss remote voting were opposed to the EC’s proposal to allow migrants to cast their votes from outside their home constituencies, sources told The Indian Express. With parties demanding more in-depth discussion on the matter, the EC put off the demonstration of a prototype Remote Voting Machine (RVM), which was scheduled after remarks by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and a presentation on remote voting.

A video clip, reportedly live-streamed by one of the five Indians on board the Yeti Airlines Kathmandu-Pokhara flight which crashed on Sunday, purportedly shows the last moments before the plane went down. The video clip shows passengers inside the aircraft, and then the landscape of the ground below as the plane descends for landing. Moments later, there is commotion, some people can be heard screaming, and then there is blurred footage, including of a fire as flames fill the screen.

Must read 

Deaths due to cancer have declined by 33% in the United States since 1991, a new report says. It attributed the success to early detection, lower rates of smoking, and improvements in cancer treatment. But what is the situation in India? What is the incidence of cancer and mortality in India currently? What must be done to bring down overall mortality like in the US? We explain 

Nearly half of the Indian students pursuing higher education in the US are spread over six American states — New York, California, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts and Arizona, show data obtained from Open Doors reports. A comparative analysis shows that these states are a huge draw for students from China as well. India and China collectively account for 52% of all international students in the US. 

Getting political parties to agree on a “remote” (EVM) machine is a tall order in view of the persisting questions even about the existing stand-alone EVMs, writes former Chief Election Commissioner of India S Y Quraishi in our Opinion section today. “I hope the meeting on Monday proves to be a turning point in resolving the migrant voting issue once and for all, though the task is daunting.” 

And Finally 

“Until my last breath, until there’s life inside me, I will continue this. I will die doing this job,” 71-year-old hockey coach Dominic Toppo tells The Indian Express. Belonging to Kukuda village near Rourkela in Odisha, Toppo sacrificed his smooth-sailing family life, cycled 40-50 km a day at times to scout players, sold his small business and mortgaged his ancestral land so that he could continue doing what he was “born to do”: Teach young girls and boys hockey!

Delhi Confidential: The followers of Sachin Pilot had been demanding a leadership change in Rajasthan for some time. The Congress high command, however, is showing no signs of urgency to resolve the organisational issues in the state. Pilot, meanwhile, has begun an exercise to show his strength and is set to address four rallies in Rajasthan this week. His rallies will be keenly watched by the Ashok Gehlot camp as well as those sitting in Delhi. 

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk about why Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar has been criticising the Supreme Court, the Yeti Airlines crash in Nepal, and the EC’s plan to introduce remote voting.

Until tomorrow,

Rahel Philipose and Anandu Suresh