This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain. It’s the 18th of April and here are today's headlines. The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections will kickstart tomorrow with voters in 102 parliamentary constituencies across 21 states slated to cast their ballot to elect the new government. The 18th Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases, between April 19th 19 and 4th June, involving close to 97 crore voters. The results will be declared on the 4th of June, twelve days before the term of the current House expires. The Election Commission of India inform ..read more

First, Indian Express’ Deputy Editor Liz Mathew tells us on why the BJP is concerned about achieving the goal of winning 400 seats, what it plans to do in its third term, and what concerns voters have right now. Next, Indian Express’ Diplomatic Affairs Editor Shubhajit Roy explains what has caused the latest tensions between Iran and Israel, and why India is concerned about it. (13:24) And finally, we discuss the unprecedented rainfall witnessed in the UAE, and what might have caused it. (21:18) Hosted by Shashank Bhargava Written and produced by Shashank Bhargava and Niharika Nanda Edited ..read more

The headlines this evening from The Indian Express ..read more

How much has the BJP veered away from the Vajpayee style of governing? Could you really have called Vajpayee a moderate and LK Advani, a hardliner? And what can be learned from the sense of unity in the BJP? In this episode, Sandip talks to political scientist Dr Vinay Sitapati about his latest book, Jugalbandi: The BJP before Modi, in which he deals with these questions, and writes about the movement which led to Vajpayee and Advani coming to power. Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar ..read more

With four days remaining until the Lok Sabha polls begin, we are joined by The Indian Express’ Chief of National Political Bureau Manoj CG to discuss the Congress party’s preparations for the polls, the challenges it faces, and the reasons behind its delay in announcing a candidate from Amethi. Hosted, written and produced by Shashank Bhargava Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar ..read more

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain. It’s the 16th of April and here are today's headlines. Stating that the court will not let them “off the hook” at this stage, the Supreme Court today gave one week’s time to Yoga guru Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved Managing Director Acharya Balkrishna to tender a public apology in a case against the company for publishing “misleading adverstisements”, claiming cure for some diseases and criticising the allopathy branch of medicines. The bench said, quote, "You are doing good work but you can’t degrade allopathy." Unquo ..read more

First, we talk to Indian Express’ Mohamed Thaver, about why the Anti Corruption Bureaus have been left toothless after the amendments made to the Prevention of Corruption Act. Second, Indian Express' Divya A joins us to talk about the Lalit Kala Akademi and why the Ministry of Culture has curtailed the powers of the Akademi's Chairman, V Nagdas. (11:51) Lastly, we discuss the details of the issues PM Modi addressed in his recent interview. (21:40) Hosted by Niharika Nanda Written and Produced by Shashank Bhargava and Niharika Nanda Edited and Mixed by Suresh Pawar ..read more

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain. It’s the 15th of April and here are today's headlines. A Delhi Court today extended Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s judicial custody till 23rd of April in connection with the excise policy case. The Enforcement Directorate had sought a 14-day extension of the Delhi CM’s custody. He will now be produced in court with co-accused K Kavitha on the next date. In more news, the Supreme Court today sought the ED’s response in a plea filed by Kejriwal against his arrest in the same case. The court asked for the response to ..read more

With four days remaining until the Lok Sabha polls begin, we are joined by The Indian Express’ Chief of National Political Bureau Manoj CG to discuss the Congress party’s preparations for the polls, the challenges it faces, and the reasons behind its delay in announcing a candidate from Amethi. Hosted, written and produced by Shashank Bhargava Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar ..read more

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain. It’s the 12th of April and here are the top stories of the week. The Delhi High Court dismissed a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy scam on Tuesday. Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud the next day said he will look “immediately” into the request to take up Kejriwal’s plea challenging his ED arrest. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader ..read more