Your Morning Briefing for 29 August 2020

Goodmorning Readers,  We are covering the government's plan to unify all electoral rolls, Indore's surprising sero survey results and two TV shows that were stopped from being aired.  Big Story [Exclusive] Plans are afoot to draw up a common voters' list for elections to all local bodies, state assemblies and Lok Sabha. The move is a key step towards the government's push to hold simultaneous polls. Though it would save the exchequer money, getting states on board won't be easy.   From The Front Page [Exclusive] Two suppliers of a marijuana strain sourced from California are likely to be arrested today by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) that is probing Rhea Chakraborty and three of her acquaintances after ED recovered purported WhatsApp chats discussing drugs from the actor's phone. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's letter to chairpersons of parliamentary committees, urging them to avoid taking up issues for discussion that are pending before courts, has not gone down well with a few MPs. They lament that this new directie will set an unusual precedent as committees in the past have discussed subjects ranging from 2G spectrum to PNB scandal.  While the Supreme Court declined to impose a pre-broadcast injunction on a private news channel’s show alleging “Bureaucracy Jihad”, the Delhi High Court stopped it from airing after students of Jamia Millia Islamia university said the broadcast sought to incite hatred against them.

Rain Guard: Traffic congestion as riders take shelter under a bridge near Akshardham in New Delhi during rain on Friday.

The Pandemic

The country's cleanest city, Indore, was once a Covid hot spot. It still accounts for a major share of the coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh. However, it left authorities surprised with its first ever sero survey, showing antibodies only among 7.75% of the population covered.  

While the government has allowed airlines to resume in-flight meal services on domestic flights, it has cautioned passengers against the ‘no-fly list’ for violating the standard operating procedures or not wearing masks during flights.

Beyond Covid-19

A pharmacist in J&K, in jail for more than eight months, was granted bail by a special UAPA judge who found no evidence of the former’s involvement in any offence and said that he was only “performing his professional duty” if he was intending to deliver medicines even to a terrorist.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed senior officials to chalk out a plan and decide if a new law is required to contain incidents of “love jihad” after several cases were reported across Kanpur, Meerut and Lakhimpur Kheri.

On the other hand, an Assamese TV serial, in which the protagonists are a Hindu woman and a Muslim man, accepting that it had “outraged the religious sentiment of a certain section”, has been banned for two months following a month-long protest by Hindu right-wing groups.

Members of the Indian Gym Welfare Federation protest against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, demanding re-opening of centres in the national capital.

ICMYI

• The Supreme Court has ruled that universities will have to conduct the final-year exams and “cannot” promote students on the basis of internal assessment or other criteria.
  
• A Group of Secretaries to the Union government has suggested “asset monetisation/disinvestment” in Kolkata Metro, the country’s oldest Metro system.
  
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he is stepping down due to worsening health conditions, and apologised to citizens for not being able to fulfil his duties.
  
• Several members of the Chennai Super Kings contingent have tested positive for Covid-19 in Dubai, it is learnt. 
• Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday decided to go into quarantine after two Congress MLAs, who attended the one-day Assembly session, tested positive for Covid-19.

And Finally...

Sadak 2 review: It’s hard to believe that the movie comes from Mahesh Bhatt’s baton, who has given us such classics as Arth, Naam, and the 1999 Zakhm, which spoke so eloquently and emotively to the growing rift between religions, and people, writes film critic Shubhra Gupta.

Delhi Confidential: With the Election Commission signalling that it is unlikely to postpone the Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress is drawing up its campaign plans despite the turmoil in the party.

Directed and edited by Mahesh Narayanan, Malayalam thriller CU Soon stars Fahadh Faasil, Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran in the lead roles. In this exclusive interview by The Indian Express, Fahadh talks about CU Soon, his production house Fahadh Faasil and Friends and his relationship with screenwriters.

Until tomorrow,

Leela Prasad and Liu Chuen Chen