Daily Briefing: Mumbai’s fast-depleting urban green cover, IAF officers receive training for Gaganyaan, and more

3) The four Indian Air Force (IAF) officers chosen for Gaganyaan, India’s maiden human spaceflight mission, are undergoing training at ISRO in Bengaluru. Sound knowledge of technical and technological aspects of the mission, physical and mental rigour — what does it take to be an astronaut? Read here.

4) Kerala’s move towards an alternate model for the rollout of smart electricity meters comes as a spanner in the works for the Union Government scheme that aims to replace 250 million conventional meters with smart meters across all households by March 2025. What is the intention behind Kerala’s smart meter plan? What was the trigger to opt out of Centre’s scheme? Who are the major players? Sukalp Sharma and Anil Sasi break it all down for you.

5) In our opinion section today, Suhas Palshikar writes on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal: “It needs to be seen as part of a larger process of consigning democracy to the dustbin of sham formality. Without going to the extent of driving out Opposition parties from the electoral fray, the Opposition is being denied fair play.”

Until next time,
Ariba

Business As Usual by E P Unny