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The Morning Wrap: Jews To Get Minority Status In Maharashtra; 'Kabali' Producers Announce Special Flight For Fans

The Morning Wrap: Jews To Get Minority Status In Maharashtra; 'Kabali' Producers Announce Special Flight For Fans
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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

Despite reports of several accidents every year during the popular Dahi Handi festival, the Maharashtra government has now allowed children above 12 years of age to be part of teams which form the celebratory human pyramids. They have also said that there will be no restrictions on the height of these pyramids. Reportedly, the state government has given into pressure from Dahi Handi mandals, just ahead of the upcoming civic elections.

Accusing Narendra Modi of trying to intimidate him, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that unlike Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi he was not scared of the Prime Minister. He was speaking regarding the case registered by the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch against former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in an alleged ₹400-crore water tanker scam in which the AAP chief’s name also found a mention.

A 19-year-old Dalit nursing student was admitted to a hospital and is in a critical condition, after being allegedly ragged by her seniors. Ashwathy, a first year nursing student of Al Qamar College of Nursing at Gulbarga near Bengaluru, was forced to drink phenyl, following which, she vomited blood.

Main News

The ISRO is set to make a record by launching 20 satellites in a 26-minute flight today at 9:25 AM from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota. ISRO will also launch 13 US-made small satellites including an earth imaging satellite made by Terra Bella, a Google-owned company. The 110 kg Google satellite called 'SkySat Gen- 2' is capable of taking sub-meter resolution images and high definition video.

After the US reiterated its support for New Delhi's bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), China toned down its opposition to India's admission, saying that there was always room for discussion. While China's primary concern is the non-proliferation treaty, Indian negotiators are prepared to show records of seven meetings of the NSG plenary sessions where Delhi’s adherence to its commitments made in 2008 have been acknowledged.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav fired Balram Yadav, a senior politician and one of the founding members of Samajwadi Party, for engineering the merger of a political party headed by a mafia don Mukhtar Ansari who has been in jail for the murder of a BJP MLC.

Off The Front Page

With cult Tamil actor Rajinikath's film Kabali set to hit the theatres on 15 July, the producers have announced a special flight for his Bengaluru fans. Rajinikanth's fans, who wish to watch the film on the first day, first show, will get to fly to Chennai on a special flight, in collaboration with AirAsia India. The package, priced at ₹7,860, will be inclusive of the flight ticket, a movie ticket, an audio CD, Kabali merchandise, breakfast, lunch and snacks.

The Maharashtra government approved a proposal to grant minority status to Jews in the state. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. According to recent data, there are about 2,644 Jews in the state and all schemes meant for minorities will now be available to them.

The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) will now book cases against people putting up illegal ads, birthday wishes, film posters, greetings, among others, under the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981.

Opinion

In perhaps the most unsurprising news break of the century, Salman Khan said something stupid and outright obnoxious — he actually compared a rigorous shooting schedule to getting raped, writes Piyasree Dasgupta for HuffPost India. Bollywood, who almost crucified comedian Tanmay Bhat at the supposed insults hurled at Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar, didn't bat an eyelid at Khan talking about rape the same way he talks about talented flies and ants in his tweets, she wrote.

In absolute terms, yoga still has the lowest spending among alternative medicinal forms, according to AYUSH ministry figures. But the actual spending might be more, says Roshan Kishore in Mint. "The beginning of business yoga is well under way in India. Baba Ramdev who is giving large FMCG companies a run for their money, found his first business calling in promoting yoga through the Aastha television channel. His yoga camps charge a fee of ₹1,000-2,000 per day. PM Modi appealed to the nation to focus on mitigating diabetes through yoga this year. It remains to be seen how many Indians can follow the strict discipline and perseverance required to reap such benefits of yoga. Those in the yoga business would not mind the sugar-coated revenues yoga’s growing popularity would bring in," he says.

In addition to its present role of representation and accountability, the Rajya Sabha could be the House that represents difference in our polity, difference marked not merely by its culture but its diversity, writes Valerian Rodrigues in The Hindu. "Difference in India is encoded not merely around regions, languages, and communities but also in its inegalitarian social relations. Representation through federal units hardly captures these multiple and often overlapping differences. The Constituent Assembly debates, and the need for the Upper House to be embedded, are a sufficient justification in this regard. One can understand the deep discomfiture that some of the nominated members feel in the House given the adversarial context in which they have to function. There are probably ways to shape representation that reaches out and connects to nodal concerns without being overwhelming," he says.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.