| Good morning, India roared back to life after the heartbreak at Headingley, levelling the England vs India series 1-1 in the second Test. In a performance for the ages, the young Indian side scripted history with a 336-run win, marking their first-ever Test victory at Edgbaston and the largest margin of triumph on foreign soil. With no Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, and in this match, Jasprit Bumrah, this fledgling unit has a lot riding on their shoulders. And leading the charge is Shubman Gill, whose record-breaking 430 runs aggregate in the Test helped seal the deal. While it's too early to judge his captaincy, Gill proved that he has steel for the role. As national sports editor Sandeep Dwivedi writes, "He has a reassuring presence on the field. The 25-year-old doesn’t show anxiety that most new leaders experience or press the panic button too early. There is a quiet confidence about him." We have more on the Edgbaston Test, but first, let's cover the rest of the day's headlines.
🚨Big Story The Election Commission's herculean task to revise the electoral rolls in time for the Bihar elections has come under scrutiny, sparking concern among Opposition parties as well as voters. On Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar defended the exercise, stating that the revision was being done after all recognised political parties expressed dissatisfaction with the current status of electoral rolls for "one reason or the other". With numerous voters facing difficulties in furnishing documents required to prove their citizenship, an advertisement published by the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) clarified that electors can submit enumeration forms for now and provide the documents later, anytime before July 25, 2025. Kumar clarified that this was always the case as per the June 24 order. Here are the guidelines. Paper trail: Last week, The Indian Express fanned out in different districts of Bihar to observe the challenges on the ground to the revision exercise. Continuing the series today, my colleague Santosh Singh reports on the upper castes, largely viewed as an NDA vote bank, which echo the unease of the poor and marginalised. Among the many villages Singh visited, one refrain was common — the lack of domicile certificates, leaving authorities to deal with thousands of domicile applications daily. Legal hurdle: The exercise now faces legal challenges in court. RJD MP Manoj Jha has moved the Supreme Court, questioning the timing of the revision, which could "disenfranchise Bihar's mobile workforce". TMC MP Mahua Moitra and civil society organisations, the Association for Democratic Reforms and the People's Union for Civil Liberties, have moved similar petitions in the SC. The pleas are crucial, given that the EC plans to eventually implement the exercise all over India. 🎧 For more on the Bihar electoral rolls revision, tune in to today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode.
⚡Only in Express In the latest Idea Exchange session, Union Minister of Jal Shakti C R Patil elaborated on the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which recently came under the scanner for alleged corruption and the action taken by his ministry to rein it in. He also spoke about the controversial Namami Gange project and Gujarat politics. Read.
📰 From the Front Page The climb: "Some arrived as modern adventurers, sporting jackets, proper hiking boots, and carefully planned provisions. Others embodied raw faith, undertaking the trek barefoot in simple knickers and shirts, cigarettes dangling from their lips," writes Anand Mohan J from Sheshnag in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. He has joined the scores of pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath Yatra, the first since the April 22 terror attack. Read his richly detailed account. Cabbie killer: After 25 long years, the Delhi Police have finally apprehended the elusive serial killer responsible for a string of brutal crimes between 1999 and 2001. Ajay Lamba, also known as Bansi, is accused of robbing and murdering four taxi drivers across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. He would allegedly dispose of the stolen vehicles by selling them in Nepal. A breakthrough came when the arrest of one of his associates provided crucial leads, ultimately leading to his capture. Re-do: A Wildlife Institute of India (WII) report has left the Ministry of Environment unimpressed. The ministry sent back the annual progress report on the Captive Elephant Database Project to WII, flagging serious issues like plagiarism, data gaps and even the wrong species (an African elephant instead of an Asian one) on the cover. Wild, right?
📌 Must Read Agent AI: From China's "intelligentised warfare", which has also benefitted Pakistan, to Ukraine's AI-powered drones and India's own defence tech ambitions, there's no doubt deep tech is transforming modern warfare. But here's the twist: all that cutting-edge AI runs on massive amounts of energy, and India may not be ready. In the future battlefield, electricity may be the ultimate weapon. Red lines: Jane Street, an American proprietary trading firm, appeared to be a seasoned global investor in the Indian markets. Until the watchdog, Sebi, took a closer look. It found that Jane Street, trading with its capital instead of client funds, made strategic and malicious attempts to sway the market and drive up its profits. How did Jane Street manipulate the market? We explain. ENG vs IND: Is Bazball, marked by non-conformist, left-field thinking, truly a 'game-changer' or the 'messiah' saving Test cricket from death? If England's Edgbaston defeat and earlier losses against cricketing heavyweights are any indication, the answer might be a resounding no. In this sharp analysis, Sandeep Dwivedi explains why Bazball’s rigid commitment to non-conformism could keep England from achieving world dominance. Also read: Nip-backers, ‘anushaasan’ and wiles: How Akash Deep did the star turn at Edgbaston
⏳ And Finally... Birkenstocks, with their distinctive cork footbeds and minimalist designs, have taken the world by storm. They are iconic, comfortable, and a style statement. But their relatively steep price has kept many from buying the orthopaedic sandals. Enter 'Birkanstocks' or 'Brknstock' and so on. Fake Birkenstocks have since flooded the market, selling for cheaper across India and the world. The German brand has now launched an infringement lawsuit against small-scale factories in India, which produce counterfeit footwear. As part of the lawsuit, the court has appointed a panel to visit these factories and seize and seal the infringing products, per a Reuters report. That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow, Sonal Gupta |
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