Good morning, readers! Here are the top headlines from the day that you need to know – from politics and world news to sports and entertainment.
7,000 held, 41,000 personnel foil Gyanesh Kumar stir in Delhi; sporadic protests persist
About 41,000 security personnel turned the Capital into a fortress on Saturday to thwart a planned protest demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, launching an unprecedented clampdown that saw the detention of 7,000 people and left large chunks of Delhi deserted. Four former chief ministers and the leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were among those detained as police cracked down on students, lawyers and politicians, successfully refusing passage to Jantar Mantar. Yet, sporadic protests bubbled up at different points of the city throughout the day, even as police rushed to smother the stirs. Read more here.
Delhi stadiums, halls double up as detention centres for 7,000 during CJP’s Jantar Mantar protest
Police detained close to 7,000 people across Delhi from the early hours of Saturday, picking up protesters at railway stations, at the airport, outside hotels, at their homes and on the streets, and filling police stations, stadiums and community centres, where many of the detainees carried on protesting. They were responding to the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP’s) “Chalo Delhi” call, which seeks the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar among other demands. Read more here.
Supreme Court to hold special sitting today on pleas against Delhi detentions, curbs on transport
Trinamool Congress MP and senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy has moved the Supreme Court challenging the preventive detention of Opposition leaders, including four former chief ministers, and other individuals during Saturday’s protests in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, prompting a special sitting of the court on Sunday. Click here to read more.
Ranji Trophy: Five things to watch out for in the new season
The drama in Ranji Trophy unfolds over four days amid the frenzy that is white-ball cricket. IPL commands attention, yet Indian Test cricket cannot thrive without the premier first-class tournament. Before the packed stands and the India cap come uneven pitches, facing the hard new ball and learning the discipline to last sessions. For the next few months, the future of Indian cricket will take shape far from the spotlight. As the new season begins on Sunday, a familiar question is whether the first-class calendar gives its flagship competition the room to breathe. Read more here.
Naseeruddin Shah to bring Salman Rushdie memoir after assassination bid to stage
Twenty-seven seconds: On the clock, it is less than half of a minute, and a little more than a quarter of one. Nothing exceptional can possibly occur in such a short passage of time. Unless, of course, you enjoy poetry — “you could read aloud one of Shakespeare’s sonnets, the one about the summer’s day,” novelist Salman Rushdie wrote in his memoir, ‘Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder’. His romantic recall of the use of time as fleeting as this is abruptly marred by a more terrifying 27-second memory—his encounter with his assassin on the morning of August 12, 2022 at the amphitheater of the Chautauqua Institution in New York State, ironically to talk about “the importance of keeping writers safe from harm”. Click here for more.
