3 Things Express Audio

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 1st of May and here are today's headlines.

Around 100 schools in Delhi and the National Capital Region received a bomb threat email in the early hours today. The schools received the threats on their official email IDs around 4 am. Speaking to reporters, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena, said that the Delhi Police has found out the origin of the threat emails and that an investigation is underway. He added, quote, “I want to assure the people of Delhi that Delhi Police is fully prepared and we will try to prevent any untoward incident from happening.” Unquote.

In other news, Anuj Thapan, one of the accused in the case related to firing outside actor Salman Khan’s Bandra home, has died by suicide in the lock-up of Mumbai Police’s crime branch. According to police officials, Thapan attempted to die by suicide at around 11am. “The incident took place in the bathroom of the police lock-up on the first floor,” the official said. Thapan, 32, was arrested on April 26 from Punjab by a team of Mumbai police crime branch.

India’s gross Goods and Services tax collections rose to a record-high level of Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April (for year-end sales in March), as per data released by the Finance Ministry today. Driven mainly by a rise in domestic transactions, the gross GST collections increased by 12.4 per cent in April. This is the highest level of GST collections recorded since the July 2017 of the indirect tax regime. The previous highest level registered under GST was Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023, reflecting year-end sales of March 2023.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara today said there is no question of protecting anyone including Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna over an alleged sex scandal involving him and that action has been initiated in accordance with law by forming a Special Investigation Team. He was reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement on Tuesday wanting to know why the Congress government in Karnataka did not take any action against Prajwal Revanna. In the latest development in the sexual abuse case against Revanna, his father and party MLA H D Revanna, the SIT has issued notices to them. They have been asked to appear before SIT for probe.

In international news, dozens were reportedly arrested Tuesday after Columbia University called in police to end the pro-Palestinian occupation on the New York campus. The demonstrators had occupied Hamilton Hall more than 12 hours earlier, spreading their reach from an encampment on the grounds. Before officers entered the campus, the New York Police Department received a notice from Columbia authorising officers to take action, a law enforcement official told AP news agency.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

First, Indian Express’ Anonna Dutt joins us to talk about why Hong Kong and Singapore withdrew products from MDH and Everest and how FSSAI has responded to it. 

Next, Indian Express’ Damini Nath talks to us about the voting process and the verdict that was recently given by the Supreme Court of India regarding the EVMs and VVPATs. (5:15)

And finally, we talk about  AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that created the Covid-19 vaccine - Covishield and its admission of the fact that their vaccine causes series health issues. (12:12)

Hosted by Niharika Nanda
Produced and written by Niharika Nanda and Shashank Bhargava
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 30th of April and here are today's headlines.

The Janata Dal(Secular) today suspended Hassan MP and the party’s Lok Sabha candidate Prajwal Revanna, in connection with the explicit video clips allegedly involving him. The decision was made following a meeting of the JD(S) core committee held in Hubballi. Addressing media persons, JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy said the duration of the suspension “was until the completion of the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). If allegations against him are proved, then he will be suspended permanently.”

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah broke his silence on the alleged sex abuse case involving Prajwal Revanna, an MP with BJP’s alliance partner in Karnataka, the JD(S). Speaking in Guwahati, Shah, when asked about the allegations against Prajwal, who is also the JD(S) Lok Sabha candidate and the grandson of H D Deve Gowda, said, “It cannot be tolerated.” However, he sought to turn the tables on the Congress government in Karnataka for delaying the investigation in the case.

In other news, AstraZeneca, for the first time, reportedly admitted in its court documents that its Covid vaccine can cause rare side effects, paving the way for a multi-million pound legal payout. The pharmaceutical company is being sued in a class action over claims that its vaccine against Covid-19, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury, including TTS — Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome — which causes people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count.

The Supreme Court came down heavily on the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority stating that they should be “honest to the court if they wanted sympathy and compassion”, a day after the body informed the court that it had “suspended manufacturing licences for 14… products” of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Divya Pharmacy. Expressing dissatisfaction over the explanation offered by the body, the bench observed it appeared that the licensing authority took action in accordance with the law only after the apex court’s 10th of April order.

British police have arrested a man armed with a sword following reports of people having been stabbed during a serious incident in northeast London. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the 36-year old man was arrested after police were called to reports of a vehicle being driven into a house in the area close to Hainault train station. The capital’s police force said the suspect had attacked members of the public and two officers, although it was not thought to be terrorism-related.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

First, Indian Express’ Jatin Anand tells us the reasons behind Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely resigning from this post, and the concerns it raises for the party ahead of the polls.

Next, Indian Express’ Vikas Pathak explains how Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently reframing the slogan 'Abki baar 400 paar' and highlights the major trends for the party after the completion of two poll phases (14:12).

And in the end, we give you a brief update on India's summoning of the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner following the raising of pro-Khalistan slogans at a Toronto event addressed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (24:18).

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Produced and written by Niharika Nanda
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 29th of April and here are today's headlines.

The Congress in Madhya Pradesh received a setback today with its Indore candidate, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrawing his nomination. BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi confirmed the development to The Indian Express and said, quote, “The Congress candidate has withdrawn his nomination. This is the failure of Congress leadership. It’s a failure of their policies. Their vote bank politics, inheritance politics… has backfired. Congress karyakartas were already leaving, and now the leaders have joined.” Unquote. 

As the Karnataka Special Investigation Team launches a probe into allegations of sexual abuse by JD(S) MP and its Hassan candidate Prajwal Revanna, G Devaraje Gowda, a BJP leader told The Indian Express that he wrote an email and a letter to BJP state unit president BY Vijayendra as well as the central leadership on the allegations on 8th of December last year.

Will an ex-Muslim continue to be governed by the Muslim personal law — the Shariat Act of 1937 — or by the secular laws of the country in matters of succession? The Supreme Court today agreed to consider the “important point” and issued notice on a writ petition filed by a woman from Kerala raising the question. The notice came from a bench on a petition filed by Safiya PM. In her plea, Safiya sought a “declaration that persons who do not want to be governed by the Muslim Personal Law must be allowed to be governed by the secular law of the country, viz, the Indian Succession Act, 1925 both in the case of intestate and testamentary succession”.

In an interview to a leading national daily, Prime Minister Narendra Modi doubled down on his remarks against the Congress party over “appeasement” and “inheritance tax”. When asked about the Congress’s “polarisation” charge against the BJP, PM Modi said, quote “It is not polarisation to show that Congress has violated the Constitution and enacted laws providing reservation on the basis of religion. Our Constitution clearly prohibits reservations based on religion but the Congress govt in Karnataka reversed the law passed by BJP to provide reservation to OBCs and gave it to Muslims, classifying all Muslims as OBC.” unquote.

When asked about the disappointment that the manifestos of the Congress and other parties of the INDIA bloc are completely silent on Article 370, Omar Abdullah told the Indian Express, "We do have friends who have talked about it — TMC, DMK, the Left. They have stuck their necks out for J&K and are against everything that happened on August 5, 2019. While the Congress is unable to find common cause with us on this particular issue, it is disappointing but I do understand. I understand that they have to trade off their commitment to J&K with the wider electoral arithmetic that they need to factor in." Unquote.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

First, Indian Express’ Anonna Dutt joins us to talk about a report by the Swiss NGO Public Eye in collaboration with the International Baby Food Action Network which said that baby products sold in different countries, including India, had sugar above the international food safety guidelines.

Next, Indian Express’ Shubhangi Khapre talks to us about Maharashtra's  communally sensitive city of Aurangabad now called Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and why it is of crucial importance in the Lok Sabha polls.(11:13)

And finally, we talk about a call for indefinite shutdown by the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Nagaland which caused the general public to go to the neighbouring state of Assam to buy essential commodities. (23:35)

Hosted by Niharika Nanda
Produced and written by Niharika Nanda and Shashank Bhargava
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar