Daily Briefing: Aravalli question in Supreme Court today

🚨 Big Story

Amid mounting concerns over the protection of the Aravallis, the Supreme Court will hear suo motu proceedings on the question of the hills’ definition today.

For context, as per the new definition, which the apex court accepted on November 20, the Aravalli Hills will comprise any landform raised 100 m above the local relief. The Indian Express has reported how an internal assessment by the Forest Survey of India revealed that the new definition will remove protection cover from 90% of the hill range, opening it up to mining and construction activities, and threatening the environment around it.

Notably, The Indian Express reports today that earlier this year, the Rajasthan government formally opened large parts of urban hill terrain to a range of “low-density” activities. It categorised the Aravallis into three categories based on the slope, permitting activities such as farmhouses, resorts, amusement parks, wellness and yoga centres, camping sites and solar power projects on hills with slopes between 8 and 15 degrees. Experts suggest that this could erode the hills, one of the oldest mountain systems in India.

⚡Only in Express

It’s a name that even the traffic cops fear: Raju, or more formally known as Rajkumar Meena. Raju sits at the top of a crime syndicate, extorting money and inappropriate favours from the Delhi Traffic Police personnel. Raju and his associates encouraged commercial vehicles to break traffic norms, entering no-entry zones or operating during restricted hours. When traffic cops intervened, these interactions were slyly recorded. The cops were then threatened with doctored videos, showing them accepting bribes. How did this system of fear and extortion unravel? We report.

📰 From the Front Page

Hit pause: All personal hearings of voters found “unmapped” to the 2002 electoral rolls in West Bengal by the Election Commission’s software have been put on hold until further verification. Why? Well, under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, the EC’s central software “maps” voters to the 2002 rolls and generates notices for those it can’t find. However, the local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have flagged that they can trace some of those flagged by the system to hard copies of the 2002 rolls.

Tragic: Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old from Tripura, had come to Uttarakhand for his MBA. He was in his final year and had even secured a job at a French MNC. But on December 9, things took a turn for the worse. A group of juveniles in Dehradun picked a fight with Anjel and his brother. It turned into a racial attack, with the boys calling the brothers “Chinese” and “momo”. The brothers resisted, but the fight escalated, and Anjel was stabbed. He died 17 days later. This is his story.

📌 Must Read

In the neighbourhood: Tarique Rahman has returned to Bangladesh after 17 years of self-imposed exile. He is the de facto leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), currently the country’s largest political organisation and the frontrunner in the national elections scheduled for February. Historically, the BNP has maintained an anti-India stance. However, after a year of political unrest, the key question remains: will the BNP recalibrate its reactionary politics and move towards a more cooperative relationship with India? Bashir Ali Abbas explains.

AI-sight: Can artificial intelligence (AI) assist the health sector? A host of AI-enabled tools, from an app recording cough sounds to a telemedicine platform for consultation, are not only helping doctors with quicker diagnoses and better treatment plans but also taking healthcare to remote areas. Anonna Dutt reports.

Keeping up with the law: Justice Abhay S Oka retired earlier this year after a distinguished career that saw him largely as a conscience keeper of the judiciary. He is known for prioritising real issues, saying courts must show ‘zero tolerance’ for environmental law violations and should not be swayed by popular or religious sentiments. He joined us for the latest Idea Exchange session to answer questions on “democratising” the Supreme Court, the issue of judicial appointments and gender parity in the judiciary. Read.

⏳ And Finally…

The Partition may have sealed the fate of Sanskrit in Pakistan, but the language survived in the neglected corners of dusty libraries. Now, Shahid Rasheed, a sociology professor in Lahore, who has had a long love affair with Sanskrit, is bringing it back to the classroom. After stumbling upon old books at MAO College, he is teaching a four-credit Sanskrit course at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) — the first time the language has been formally taught in Pakistan since Partition.

🎧 Before you go, do tune in to today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode, where film critic Shubra Gupta joins the host to discuss the best movies and shows of 2025.

That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta