Marking the seventh year of the Centre’s move on August 5, 2019 to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and reduce it to a Union Territory, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hardened his political stance with his first protest held recently in Delhi for the restoration of statehood. He quoted Robert Frost’s famous lines: “I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep.” The protest signals a departure from the calibrated approach the National Conference (NC) leader adopted since he led his party to power in October 2024 – in the first elections held after the abrogation of Article 370. Abdullah’s action follows years of his government’s attempt to maintain a cooperative relationship with the Centre in the hope that statehood would follow.With that, let’s move on to the top stories from today’s edition:FCRA Bill in ParliamentProtests in JharkhandIndian men’s hockey team coach Craig Fulton’s interview Big StoryIn an attempt to break the deadlock in Parliament where proceedings have mostly remained disrupted, the government reached out to the Opposition on Wednesday signaling that the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 would not have any penalising retrospective provision. This comes after civil society and religious groups expressed concerns over the framework for vesting assets created through foreign contributions with a government-designated authority when an organisation’s FCRA registration is cancelled, surrendered or ceases. This has caused anxiety among Christian organisations because many churches and institutions have been built using foreign contributions. They are concerned that the rules in the Bill could be used to penalise past investments.In our Opinion columns today, Shashi Tharoor highlights the impact of the reintroduction of the FCRA Bill in the Parliament, referring to it as a “dangerous escalation in the centralisation of executive power in India.” Calling for opposition to the Bill, Tharoor writes: “For the nation’s welfare network, and particularly for the long-standing Christian institutions that form the backbone of healthcare, higher education, and social care across states like Kerala, the provisions of this Bill do not merely represent administrative hurdles; they present an existential threat to institutional autonomy, property rights, and constitutional freedoms.”⚡ Only in ExpressJharkhand is witnessing its Jantar Mantar moment with seven people sitting on a hunger strike for the past four days as part of a larger movement for sweeping reforms in the state’s recruitment and education system – long rife with allegations of irregularities. The controversy emerged after the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) declared the preliminary examination results of the 14th Combined Civil Services Examination earlier in August. The Commission shortlisted 2,204 candidates for the Main examination against 103 vacancies, however, allegations of irregularities began soon after. Around 3.5 lakh people took the exam. Moreover, allegations of paper leaks in the exam also began to come to light. The Hemant Soren government has tried to act fast — 16 people have been arrested so far, and the Chief Minister has said they stand with the youth. The Cockroach Janta Party has, meanwhile, expressed solidarity with the protesters, and a delegation of the Congress met Soren to seek his intervention. Read the full story. From the Front PageReturn: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in India ever since her ouster in August 2024, on Wednesday said that she plans to return to her country, stand with its people and help improve their lives. Referring to the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war, Hasina said, “December is our victory month, so I want to go back in December.” She also declared that her “life moved beyond calculations of personal safety long ago.” Currently, she faces a death sentence in Bangladesh while her party, the Awami League, has been banned.Story continues below this adApology: Social media giant Meta’s global affairs head Joel Kaplan on Wednesday reiterated the company’s apology over the brief takedown of a video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta is learnt to have said that the video’s removal was an inadvertent error, and that it was working to strengthen its internal checks and balances. In a statement, Kaplan said, “I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi’s post.” His statement comes after a delegation of the company held meetings with Indian government officials, chaired by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.Unchanged: The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept its key policy repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent, even as they opted for caution amid volatile crude oil prices, geopolitical tensions in West Asia, and an uncertain global outlook clouding the inflation trajectory. It also marginally raised its growth forecast for FY27 to 6.7 per cent from 6.6 per cent, and lowered its inflation projection to 5 per cent from 5.1 per cent. Moreover, home, vehicle and gold loan borrowers are unlikely to see any change in their EMIs, while banks are also expected to maintain existing fixed deposit and savings account rates unless they choose to revise them independently. Must ReadA tightrope walk: The three rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MPs – Murshidabad MP Abu Taher Khan, Jangipur MP Khalilur Rahaman, and Baharampur MP Yusuf Pathan – skipped a parliamentary party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi for the second time on Tuesday. It’s a tightrope walk for them as, despite being part of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), they have decided against joining or supporting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Their stance seems to be posing a challenge to the BJP dispensation both in Delhi and West Bengal. According to some sources, the three MPs are keen to recontest their respective seats under the NCPI banner in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, for which they would need to maintain support among the Muslim voters there.Books in danger: Booksellers in Australia and Europe recently raised concerns about unusual, bulk purchases of books, even as reports that artificial intelligence companies are acquiring physical copies to train their datasets emerge. However, it is the manner of such training that has caused alarm: unsealed documents in a copyright lawsuit against Anthropic revealed that the company was resorting to ‘destructive scanning’ – a process in which books are destroyed after their contents are scanned. In many cases, intermediaries source books in bulk from booksellers before sending them for digitisation, making it difficult for sellers to know who the eventual buyer is or how the books will be used. We explain.Story continues below this ad⏳ And Finally…“A podium finish would make us happy because I don’t think we performed the way we could have in the February and March block. Now we’ve nailed things down a bit, and I think we’ll be much closer to the way we want to perform.”India’s men’s hockey team coach Craig Fulton has dealt with numerous challenges over time, including star players being dropped on disciplinary grounds, seniors being ‘forced’ into retirement, a string of defeats before a sharp recovery, or the controversial change of jersey colour that has overshadowed the build-up to the World Cup — beginning on August 15. In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, Fulton reflects on navigating those challenges, why he may field a different group in the first leg of next year’s Pro League, the composition of the World Cup squad and his expectations from the tournament. Lastly, don’t forget to tune in to today’s episode of our 3 Things podcast, where we discuss the ongoing protests in Punjab against youth unemployment; CCTVs in police stations; as well as former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina’s possible return from India to her country despite the fear of arrest; and more.That’s all for today. Have a wonderful day!Until next time,Ariba Business As Usual by E P Unny