Your Daily Wrap: Uddhav digs heels in amid MVA crisis, US Supreme Court overturns landmark abortion ruling; and more

Moving from Maharashtra to Kerala, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s office in Wayanad was attacked allegedly by activists of the CPM’s students wing. The attack took place when SFI activists marched to Gandhi’s office in Kerala demanding his intervention in favour of farmers over a Supreme Court directive that protected forest tracts and wildlife sanctuaries must have an eco-sensitive zone of one kilometre from their boundaries. But what are eco-Sensitive zones and why are there protests in Kerala against them? Read here.

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is set to leave the government think tank at the end of June after a six-year-long stint of heading the organisation. He will be replaced by Parameswaran Iyer, the former secretary of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the force behind the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission.

And now the big international story of the day: The US Supreme Court today overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognised a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion and legalised it nationwide, handing a momentous victory to Republicans and religious conservatives who want to limit or ban the procedure. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step.

Time for our Friday movie reviews. This week, we review Varun Dhawan-Kiara Advani starrer JugJugg Jeeyo, Pankaj Tripathi’s Sherdil The Pilibhit Saga, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, and Netflix’s action-comedy The Man from Toronto.

Political Pulse

Loyalty versus capability, or for that matter merit, has always been a burning debate in the Congress. And the leadership (read, the Gandhis) has invariably leaned towards loyalty when rewarding party leaders. And in many cases, decisions are also taken to balance power, caste and regional equations, or to accommodate and adjust various factions and leaders. Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s decision to induct four new members into the all-powerful Congress Working Committee is perhaps a mix of all these reasons. Manoj CG writes.

Fourteen years after the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) split, the two factions of the influential Muslim religious organisation led by Deobandi clerics are working towards a merger. The split happened in 2008 after members of its working committee objected to the way its president at the time Maulana Arshad Madani conducted the organisation’s operations. But now, keeping in mind the growing intolerance against Muslims, the rival factions are working towards uniting to strengthen the organisation. Esha Roy reports.

Express Explained

This month, multiple cities across the country witnessed petrol pumps rationing supplies or getting shut due to non-availability of fuel, leading to concerns about fuel shortages and triggering panic buying among consumers. The situation peaked around the middle of June, forcing the government to intervene and ask petrol pumps to stay open and directing oil marketing companies to ensure fuel availability.  So what’s behind the fuel shortage, and when will the situation ease? Mihir Mishra explains.

Sajid Mir, chief planner of the November 26, 2008 (26/11) terrorist attacks in Mumbai, has been reportedly taken into custody in Pakistan. The FBI has designated Mir as a ‘most wanted’ terrorist. Who is Sajid Mir? What are the charges against him? Read here.