The headlines of the week by The Indian Express

First, we talk to The Indian Express' Vineet Bhalla about an exemption in the Right To Education Act. The Supreme Court is rethinking an exemption that was made for minority institutions in the RTE Act and it might be reconsidered by a larger Supreme Court bench.

Next, we talk to The Indian Express' Deeptiman Tiwary about fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the Punjab National Bank loan fraud, who is currently arrested in Belgium. He shares the charges that Choksi faces and the process of his extradition that India is going through. (9:22)

Lastly, we talk about the Special Intensive Revision that happened in Bihar and the plans that the Election Commission has regarding implementing it across the country. (20:25)

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Produced and written by Niharika Nanda and Shashank Bhargava
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The headlines of the day by The Indian Express

First, we talk to The Indian Express' Diplomatic Affairs Editor Shubhajit Roy who shares details about the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement which the two sides are currently working on. He talks about the 10 meetings that have been finalised and the first one that will be held in Delhi this week. 

Next, we talk to The Indian Express' Jayprakash Naidu who explains the situation of teachers in the Maoist-affected districts of Chhattisgarh. He shares how teachers are facing suspicion from both the police and the maoists in the region and are facing the brunt of it. (8:28)

Lastly, we talk about the online scams that are duping devotees in the name of The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams or TTD, which manages the famous Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati. (14:53)

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Produced and written by Niharika Nanda, Ichha Sharma, and Shashank Bhargava
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

The headlines of the day by The Indian Express

First, The Indian Express’ Yubaraj Ghimire talks about Nepal, where a sweeping social media ban has triggered the country’s most violent protests in years. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has since resigned.

Next, The Indian Express’ Arun Sharma explains the detention of Mehraj Malik, the Aam Aadmi Party’s lone MLA in Jammu and Kashmir under the Public Safety Act that has raised concerns. (10:20)

And in the end, we look at India’s auto sector, where the recent GST 2.0 reforms were expected to lower car prices but have instead left dealers facing mounting losses. (17:28)

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Written and produced by Shashank Bhargava and Ichha Sharma
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The headlines of the day by The Indian Express

First, The Indian Express’ National Legal Editor Apurva Vishwanath explains the Delhi High Court’s recent decision to deny bail to Umar Khalid and nine others accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case. More than five years after their arrest, the trial is yet to begin.

Next, we turn to Rajasthan, where  The Indian Express’ Hamza Khan discusses a new law that seeks to regulate one of India’s largest coaching industries. (15:19)

Lastly, we look at Nepal, where protests over the government’s sudden social media ban have led to the country’s most intense unrest in years. (28:18)

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Written and produced by Shashank Bhargava and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

The headlines of the day by The Indian Express

First, we talk to The Indian Express' Deeptiman Tiwary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to Manipur, over two years after the state faced ethnic conflict. He shares the significance of this visit, the current situation in the state and two key announcements that have been made in the run up to the visit. 

Next, we talk to The Indian Express' Divya Goyal about the flood situation in Punjab and how human action has compounded the impact of the floods. She shares how this has been a pattern in the state over the years and how floods are not just the result of heavy rain. (18:33)

Lastly, we talk about a tragic case where two infants allegedly died due to a rat bite while they were admitted in the NICU of the Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital in Indore. (30:26)

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Produced and written by Niharika Nanda, Ichha Sharma, and Shashank Bhargava
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

The headlines of this week by The Indian Express

In the 5th anniversary year of the National Education Policy 2020, the NIPUN Bharat Mission, which was launched a year later- with its emphasis on foundational learning for all children in Grades 1-3 was adopted by many states in the form of their own programmes. Uttar Pradesh was one of the early adopters of an FLN programme across more than 1.1 lakh FLN-grade schools. UP is currently achieving 68% proficiency in Language and 64% proficiency in Math as part of its FLN programme.

Starting with today’s episode, on the occasion of Teachers' Day, The Indian Express in association with Central Square Foundation brings to you a five part series, where we will discuss the importance of Foundational Literacy with experts of the field.

And to learn how UP reached where it is today, we are joined by Vinod Karate, Sr. Project Director, FLN Reforms, CSF and Vaibhav Limaye, who has been embedded with the Samagra Shiksha department in Lucknow, to understand how the change is taking shape.

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First, we talk to The Indian Express' Udit Misra about the potential increase in trade between India and China and what challenges it might cause for India, especially at the face of the 50% tariff on Indian imports imposed by the US.

Next, we talk to The Indian Express' Anonna Dutt about the trends that have been found in the emergence of cancer cases in India. A group of national investigators analysed hospital data from 43 cancer registries, spread across 23 states and Union Territories, to reveal the findings that we will discuss. (18:36)

Lastly, we talk about newly announced and restructured GST rates. (30:28)

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Produced and written by Niharika Nanda, Shashank Bhargava, and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

The headlines of the day by The Indian Express

First, we talk to The Indian Express’ Shubhangi Khapre who talks about Maharashtra, where the government has invoked a 1918 Hyderabad-era gazette to address the long-standing Maratha reservation demand.

Next, The Indian Express’ Nikhila Henry explains how a family rift within the Bharat Rashtra Samithi has escalated into a full-blown political crisis as K Kavitha, daughter of party chief K Chandrashekar Rao, was suspended and later resigned, accusing her cousins of a conspiracy. (11:48)

And in the end, we go to Kerala, where a 61-year-old farmer has stalled one of the state’s largest mall projects by challenging the conversion of protected paddy land. (24:19)

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Written and produced by Shashank Bhargava and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

The headlines of the day by The Indian Express

First, we talk to The Indian Express' Diplomatic Affairs Editor Shubhajit Roy about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to China for the SCO summit where he held a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingping. He shares what all was discussed in the meeting where do Indo-China ties stand currently. 

Next, we talk to The Indian Express' Raakhi Jagga about flood situation in Punjab. She shares how over a thousand villages in the state have been flooded, how the people are coping and the rescue operations that are underway.(9:09)

Lastly, we talk to The Indian Express' Brendan Dabhi about a new pilot project introduced by the Gujarat state government. (20:18)

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Produced and written by Niharika Nanda, Ichha Sharma, and Shashank Bhargava
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

The headlines of the day by The Indian Express

First, The Indian Express’ Akram M talks about Karnataka’s temple town of Dharmasthala, where claims of secret burials have triggered a political storm and one of the state’s most closely watched investigations.

Next, The Indian Express’ Amrita Nayak Dutta discusses India’s newly announced air defence programme, Mission Sudarshan Chakra, touted as a future counterpart to Israel’s Iron Dome. (11:48)

And in the end, we discuss a Madhya Pradesh High Court judgment that allowed an 11-year-old boy to skip two grades and enter Class 9, despite official age restrictions. (19:44)

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Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

The headlines of the day by The Indian Epxress