Daily Briefing: Fewer women move abroad, many cite family as factor in career; After Khadse, Raut’s wife gets ED notice

From college students in UP being booked for sedition to the Enforcement Directorate issuing summons to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's wife; here are today's top stories

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“Talks will take place, and a solution will be found.” That was Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar confirming that talks between the Centre and representatives of farmer unions take place tomorrow. And Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reaffirmed that the Centre has no intention of scrapping the minimum support price (MSP) regime, and that no “ma ka lal (no one)” can take away land from the farmers.

Only in the Express

In part-2 of a four-month investigation by The Indian Express of 86 national school Board toppers from 1996 to 2015, we look at the reasons behind low representation of women in science and tech and why fewer girl toppers are going abroad than their male counterparts. 

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, who was our guest at the Idea Exchange, said that special observers will be appointed for the upcoming Assembly polls in West Bengal so that the Election Commission can crackdown on anti-social elements “swiftly and ruthlessly” if there is violence.

From the Front Page

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued summons to the wife of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, Varsha, asking her to appear before it tomorrow in connection with its probe into the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank scam case. The summons came a day after a similar notice was sent to senior NCP leader Eknath Khadse in a different case. 

Students of a government-run degree college in Ayodhya have been booked for sedition after its college principal lodged a complaint accusing them of raising “anti-national slogans calling (for) azadi”. The students, however, say they were only protesting against the non-conduct of union elections at the college, and their slogans were directed at the principal and the chief proctor. 

Starting New Year, over a million street vendors across India will accept and make payments digitally, having come on board for the ‘Main Bhi Digital (me too digital)’ drive designed by the Centre for them. The drive has been prompted by the success of the government microcredit scheme for street vendors.

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Today’s flag hoisting ceremony at the Congress headquarters in Delhi to mark the party’s foundation day will be conspicuous by the absence of a Gandhi family member. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi left for abroad on a short personal visit, the party said, indicating that he will most probably ring in the New Year in a foreign location.

Some farmer groups in Punjab continued to disrupt power supply to Reliance Jio mobile towers Sunday, despite Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s appeals against the same. Sources said power to more than 150 mobile towers had been snapped in the past 24 hours. 

The BJP needs to rethink its 2021 electoral options if it fails to endorse Chief Minister K Palaniswami’s candidature for the CM’s post for the upcoming polls and other terms such as non-participation in government, the AIADMK hinted at its first poll rally in Chennai. 

ICYMI

In his last Mann Ki Baat address of 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a quality boost in Indian manufacturing and a boycott of foreign goods “shackling” the country. 

 Ajinkya Rahane struck a priceless century in adversity to put India in a commanding position in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A high-level Chinese delegation led by a vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party arrived in Kathmandu to “take stock” of Nepal’s political situation

Jailed Delhi University (DU) professor G N Saibaba’s lawyer has accused the jail authorities of denying him basic winter provisions. 

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested an associate of gangsters Dawood Ibrahim and Abu Salem for allegedly smuggling explosives and automatic weapons from Pakistan in 1997.

And Finally

At least 70 waterproof tents have come up at Delhi’s Singhu border reserved only for women and their children as the protests against the farms entered into the second month. A 26-year-old student from Punjab’s Moga arranged them after realising that women protesters returned to their villages and towns in Punjab quicker than men due to lack of privacy. 

Delhi confidential: Even as election season in Bengal hots up, with the TMC and BJP attacking each other, even political speeches it seems cannot escape Covid. Multiple jibes are being thrown against each other using Covid as an analogy.

In today’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the political crisis in Nepal and highlights from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s radio address.

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