The Morning Wrap is HuffPost India's selection of interesting news and opinion from the day's newspapers. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.
Essential HuffPost
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met her Palestinian counterpart during her first visit to the region, aimed at reaffirming India's support to its cause. She will inaugurate the India-Palestine Digital Learning and Innovation Centre as part of capacity building efforts undertaken by the Indian government in Palestine.
US President Barack Obama revealed in a recent interview that he carried in his pocket a small statuette of Hindu god Hanuman gifted to him a long time ago.
Narendra Nagareddy, an Indian-origin psychiatrist from Clayton County, Georgia, has been put behind bars on the suspicion of over-prescribing medication and running a “pill mill”. Dubbed “Dr Death” by the police, he was arrested in the US after 36 of his patients died, at least 12 of them from overdose on prescription medication.
Here’s a peek into what went down at the 61st Filmfare Awards.
YSRC Party MP P Mithun Reddy from Andhra Pradesh was arrested along with another party leader for allegedly assaulting an Air India official late last year. He was detained by the immigration officers at the Chennai airport on her way back from Bangkok.
Kolkata Police arrested Sambia Sohrab, son of a former RJD MLA, and the prime accused in the Red Road hit-and-run case in which an Air Force officer was killed. Sambia was driving the Audi car that mowed down IAF officer Corporal Abhimanyu Gaud during a rehearsal of Republic Day parade on January 13, the police said.
Main News
A woman threw ink at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a public rally held to celebrate the “success” of the odd-even scheme. It triggered angry reactions from the AAP government, which called it a BJP conspiracy and a security lapse.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ruled out an alliance with the BJP, saying the NC “is not power hungry” and would not make an “ideological compromise”.
No agitation will be required for building a Ram temple in Ayodhya as long as Modi is heading the government, said VHP president Pravin Togadia. “Till there is a government of 'Bhai Narendra in Delhi, there will not be any talk of agitation (for Ram Temple),” he said.
Investigators suspect one of the five Pakistani numbers dialled by the Pathankot attackers may belong to Ghulam Murtza, chief functionary of the Al Rahmat Trust, a charity used as a front by terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad.
Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui was booked for allegedly assaulting and misbehaving with a woman over a dispute on parking space in their housing society in Mumbai.
Off The Front Page
This year at the Kumbh, a “golden baba”, who wore jewellery worth Rs 3 crore, turned heads when he came for the holy dip. The baba, whose real name is Sudhir Kumar Makkad, was in the garments business in Delhi before he took sanyas.
Over the 15 days of Delhi’s odd-even traffic formula, the levels of particulate matter dipped on days that had favourable weather conditions, including faster wind speed and warmer temperatures. Experts said the reduced number of cars on the road also had some impact.
Students aspiring to get admission to IITs, NITs and other technical institutes will have to first clear a national aptitude test, most probably from the next year. The Centre is giving a final shape to the suggestions for bringing in changes in the current format of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).
After the Pathankot attack, the BSF is leaving nothing to chance. It is set to install sophisticated laser wall equipment near 40-odd vulnerable stretches along the international border. Officials claim that once this mechanism is in place, infiltration will be next to impossible.
In a first, World Bank will give $7 million for the restoration and development of the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Andhra Pradesh. The four coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari are expected to get $20 million towards forest restoration and disaster prevention.
Opinion
If the objective of Delhi’s odd-even trial was to ease traffic, it has worked well. But if it was about controlling pollution, it hasn’t, writes Biplav Srivastava in The Indian Express. A viable long-term solution should look at not disrupting economic activity and inconveniencing the travelling public.
When war can be the subject of a joke, why can’t godmen, asks Sagarika Ghose in The Times of India. With the emergence of the AIB Roast, Comedy Central, stand-up comics like Kapil Sharma and satirical cartoons like So Sorry, there’s a comic revolution taking place, she says.
Pakistan’s polio plan needs global support, says R. Prasad in The Hindu. India has successfully been polio-free for five years and it cannot afford to have the virus imported from Pakistan.
Contact HuffPost India