| Greetings from India! You're reading Meanwhile, Back Home, our daily newsletter specially curated for our overseas readers. While you were asleep, it was a whirlwind of a day here in India. We've got the top highlights lined up for you.
Welcome back, reader Back home, the spotlight remains on the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack. Armed with advanced weaponry and cloaked in stealth, a new breed of terrorists—mostly Pakistani nationals—has entrenched itself in Jammu and Kashmir’s dense forests. Trained in jungle warfare and equipped with US-made rifles, these militants operate in small, lethal groups, leveraging terrain, tech, and silence. Unlike earlier waves of insurgents, they avoid digital footprints and move using offline maps and satellite phones. Counter-insurgency officials say their shift to jungle strongholds has made them harder to track and deadlier to confront.
 Spotlight
The Indian government has approved a complete caste census alongside the upcoming national Census. After decades of political pressure, this marks a major policy reversal, especially from parties representing Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Here’s what you should know: Why the demand? Caste data hasn't been collected since 1931, except for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). OBCs — a politically significant group — have long demanded recognition and accurate representation, arguing that current reservation policies don’t reflect real population figures. What changed? Although earlier governments resisted, citing logistical hurdles, political consensus has recently shifted. Parties, including BJP’s state units, rallied around the idea. The 2024 general elections saw caste representation become a central issue, influencing electoral outcomes. What happens now? The Census will inform constituency boundaries and implementation of women’s reservation in legislatures. Critically, it will also fuel demands for more quotas and internal sub-categorisation among OBCs. While the timeline remains unclear, the Registrar General’s tenure extension suggests the process is back on track.
☕ Spill the Expresso 🎬 Thunderbolts Review: Marvel hits pause on perfection in Thunderbolts and lets chaos do the talking. This rag-tag group of antiheroes, from Pugh’s soulful Yelena to Louis-Dreyfus’ ruthless Valentina, stumbles, bickers, and somehow charms their way into our hearts. With more sass than superpowers, this is less Avengers, more dysfunction junction. Director Jake Schreier trades polish for personality, and while the plot dips into melodrama near the end, the messy camaraderie primarily works. It’s not Marvel reborn, but it is Marvel refreshed.
🚨 Must Read Counting castes, dodging questions The Modi government’s announcement of caste enumeration in the upcoming Census has revived a politically charged issue that once tripped up the UPA. In 2011, the Manmohan Singh-led government launched a Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) amid pressure from OBC-driven allies but never released the caste data. Why? According to the current government, it was riddled with errors—46 lakh different castes were reportedly recorded! Now, as BJP takes the reins on caste data, Congress finds itself cornered on an issue it once championed.
📚 Book Nook What the Dickens! “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” In A Tale of Two Cities, first published in 1859, Dickens captured a world teetering between revolution and ruin. Around 166 years on, the iconic opening line still hits home. Just look around: tech miracles and widening gaps, peace talks and war zones, progress and chaos—all at once.
📰 In Other News ATM’s get costlier: Planning on travelling home? Starting May 1, every extra trip to the ATM back home could cost you a little more. After exhausting your free quota—five transactions at your own bank’s ATMs and three at others in metro cities (five in non-metros)—you’ll now be charged ₹23 per transaction, up from the earlier ₹21. Yes, that includes non-cash services, like checking your balance. Why the hike? The Reserve Bank of India says it's simply catching up with rising costs and giving banks room to cover expenses. This is the first fee bump since 2022. So, unless you like giving away ₹23, it might be time to track your ATM visits or just go digital. That’s all for now. Until next time, Aishwarya Khosla
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