Morning Digest: CAPF forces keep vigil in Murshidabad; U.S. NSA Waltz puts off India visit amid ‘Signalgate’ controversy, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on April 14, 2025

Seventeen companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district following violent protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act that claimed three lives on Saturday. Over 150 people were arrested and one person who sustained bullet injury was admitted to a State-run health facility, the police said. Meanwhile, 23 high-ranking officers from the State police and other agencies have been deployed in the violence-affected district.

Amidst turmoil in Washington over communication security breaches by the National Security Council, including the National Security Advisor’s office itself, U.S. National Security Advisor (NSA) Michael Waltz has put off his visit to India slated for next week, a number of sources confirmed to The Hindu. Mr. Waltz was due to visit New Delhi from April 21 to 23, for official meetings and addressing the annual U.S.-India Forum sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs and organized by the Ananta Centre. The U.S. NSA’s office conveyed to the MEA and to NSA Ajit Doval’s office a few days ago that he would postpone his visit to Delhi for now, the sources said.

In a landmark move, devotees from all communities entered the nalambalam - the sacred inner quarter - of the centuries-old Pilicode Rayaramangalam temple in the Kasaragod district of Kerala for the first time, ending restrictions based on caste. Previously restricted to specific communities, the doors of the four sanctums of the temple were opened to all sections following a campaign led by a reformist organisation.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development has recommended an independent survey to assess the effectiveness of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), and its shortcomings. This survey, the panel said, should focus on worker satisfaction, wage delays, participation trends, and financial irregularities within the scheme.  The panel also stressed on the need to revamp the scheme, keeping in view the “changing times and emerging challenges”.

Tariff exemptions announced Friday on electronics like smartphones and laptops are only a temporary reprieve until the Trump administration develops a new tariff approach specific to the semiconductor industry, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. The Trump administration late Friday had said it would exclude electronics from broader so-called reciprocal tariffs, a move that could help keep the prices down for popular consumer devices that aren’t usually made in the U.S. The move was expected to benefit big tech companies like Apple and Samsung and chip makers like Nvidia, though the uncertainty of future tariffs may rein in an expected tech stock rally on Monday.

Bangladesh has reintroduced "except Israel” inscription on passports debarring its citizens from travelling to the Jewish state as public anger mounted against Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, officials said. The home ministry issued a directive asking the passport and immigration department to reinstate the sentence “THIS PASSPORT IS VALID FOR ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD EXCEPT ISRAEL” in the official travel permits for citizens visiting abroad, the state-run BSS news agency reported.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Sunday (April 13, 2025) announced the successful trial of a Mk-II(A) Laser- Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) system “mastering the technology of disabling missiles, drones and smaller projectiles.” The success has put India in the exclusive and limited club of nations, which are possessing the high-power Laser-DEW system, DRDO said in a statement.