Daily Briefing: Return to diplomacy?
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will soon make history as the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS). After a 28-hour journey through space, the Axiom-4 mission, carrying Shukla and three other astronauts, is expected to dock at the ISS around 4.30 pm IST today. Shukla's feat is consequential in many ways. Besides the numerous scientific experiments the astronauts will carry out at the ISS, Shukla's space travel experience will be crucial for India's Gaganyaan program, which aims to send a human into space by 2027. Moreover, as space technology becomes a lucrative business, Shukla may inspire more youngsters to enter the space sector, sparking innovation, creating employment and boosting the economy.
On that note, let's get to today's edition.
A day after Iran and Israel agreed to a fragile truce, authorities were busy assessing the extent of damage to Iran's nuclear sites. An early assessment by US intelligence, a report since rejected by the Trump administration, states that the US airstrikes did not destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities and only set it back by a few months. Trump has claimed that the sites were 'obliterated' and the program was set back by decades. Differing versions have emerged, but no government has yet released a report on the true extent of the damage.
Researcher Bashir Ali Abbas, an expert on the Middle East, writes that Iran would have avoided the conflict altogether. Its measured attack against the US military base in Qatar was more symbolic than retaliatory. Unlike Israel, which had maximalist goals, the US refrained from escalating the situation. This indicates that Iran and the US may return to the negotiation table.
The Israeli ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, also emphasised a return to diplomacy. In an interview with The Indian Express, Azar asserted that Israel had achieved its goals, and was confident that 'the Iranians will not be able to, for several years at least, build a nuclear weapon'. He added that with ceasefires in India (with Pakistan) and West Asia, it was time to 'go back to things we are good at — promoting prosperity and peace'.
Also read: Thousands of Indian workers arrived in Israel to fill the construction industry void left by the Palestinian workforce after the October 2023 Hamas attack. Ritu Sarin spoke to some of the workers about their lives in Israel, especially during the conflict with Iran.
In an ongoing Express series, where we look back at the Emergency, 50 years on, today's spotlight is on one Chanderwati, a victim of the regime's brutality. Chanderwati, a mother of four, had joined a protest against the Indira Gandhi government's forced sterilisation drive in Haryana's Pipli on December 2, 1976. It wasn't until 42 years later that her family discovered what happened to her. Her autopsy report showed that she had a fracture in her skull, left by a bullet. But her name still doesn't figure in any official government record.
We also document the rise and fall of the Janata Party, which ousted the Indira government, only to tumble a short while later.
Turning point: NATO leaders have agreed to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of their countries' economic output by 2025, in line with a demand earlier raised by the US. However, contributing editor C Raja Mohan opines that Eurasian powers cannot 'solve their security problems by throwing money at the military.' As the Trump administration disrupts the global order, it may be time for a political realignment in Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.
Last wish: In 1929, social reformer Swami Sahajanand Saraswati founded the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha, spearheading a powerful peasant movement. Nearly three decades later, an American scholar, Walter Hauser, arrived in India and dedicated almost 60 years of his life to researching Saraswati's life and ideology. Now, six years after his death, the Hauser family has travelled from the US to Patna to fulfil his one wish—to scatter his ashes in the river Ganga.
Team India racked up five tons in the first Test at Leeds. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah single-handedly took five wickets. Yet, England cruised to a win. National sports editor Sandeep Dwivedi looks at the many questions the loss throws up. (Which bowlers should be replaced for the second test? Why did the middle-order and tail fail? And so on). But do captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir have the answers? Read.
🎧 Before you go, tune in to today's '3 Things' podcast episode, where we discuss why Indians go to Iran to study medicine, the row over Nehru papers, and a Bhopal bridge with a peculiar 90-degree turn.
That's all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta
Sonal Gupta is a senior sub-editor on the news desk. She writes feature stories and explainers on a wide range of topics from art and culture to international affairs. She also curates the Morning Expresso, a daily briefing of top stories of the day, which won gold in the 'best newsletter' category at the WAN-IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023. She also edits our newly-launched pop culture section, Fresh Take.
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