TheFinePrint

By Moushumi Das Gupta, Deputy Editor

Paving the way for Omar Abdullah to take over as the new chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) leader Omar Abdullah was unanimously elected as the leader of the legislature party Thursday.

In an interview with Neelam Pandey, Abdullah affirmed that he has “no bitterness” towards PM Narendra Modi. He said that the new CM will be the leader of all of Jammu and Kashmir, not just Kashmir, adding that the elected government in the Union Territory will have to work ‘extra hard to give the people of Jammu a sense of ownership’.

In Haryana, where the Congress suffered a crushing defeat in the hands of the BJP, an analysis of poll results shows that rebels, Independents, and INDIA bloc allies were behind the party’s poor show. In 11 seats where Congress finished second, Independents finishing third polled more votes than the party's margin of defeat. In a few seats, AAP got more votes than the defeat margin of Congress, reports Sourav Roy Barman.

Moving away from politics, in Tamil Nadu, the Samsung workers’s strike has sparked divisions within the DMK-led alliance. The DMK government is in a quandary as its own alliance partners—the Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), CPI, and CPI(M)—have extended their support to the month-long strike by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions affiliated Samsung Electronics workers at Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram district.

Meanwhile, the Centre has flagged a dip in government school enrolment in 13 states/UTs in 2023-24, with Uttar Pradesh seeing the most significant drop of over 28 lakh students last year. Government officials blame reverse migration post-pandemic, shift to private schools, and low midday meal coverage as some of the key reasons behind the decline in enrolment for classes 1 to 8, reports Fareeha Iftikhar.

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Opinion

Ratan Tata's political naiveté and his complete inability to engage in the ‘deal-fixing’ culture of Indian businesses made him a great ally. His passionate commitment to technology, invention, and innovation made him a professional of great standing in his peer group, writes Amitabha Pande, retired secretary to the Government of India

Books and uniform distribution, filling out UDISE data, preparing monthly expense statements, opening students’ accounts, maintaining a monthly diary of teachers and the work being done in the classroom, managing other teachers’ records, and handling social media for the school — the list of Khatri’s non-teaching responsibilities is endless. These duties eat into her teaching hours, which was her primary motivation for choosing this job, writes ThePrint’s Nootan Sharma.

Video

The passing of industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata feels deeply uncomfortable institutional and personal to many. Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta reflects on his interactions with Tata in ThePrint ‘First Person Second Draft,’ sharing insights on what angered or pleased him. Banana Republic syndrome and dogs, dogs, and dogs.

How is the West split over an Israel arms embargo? Has the Maldives President's visit to India paved the way for a diplomatic reset? Pia Krishnankutty explains in ThePrint ‘World 360.’