Morning Digest: India, China discuss ‘early resumption’ of cooperation; SC takes suo motu cognisance of Allahabad HC order on minor assault case, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on March 26, 2025

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath opened up on the recent controversy surrounding stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra in an exclusive interview with ANI. Criticising Mr. Kamra, CM Yogi Adityanath said that some people have treated “freedom speech as their birthright to divide” the country further. “The freedom of expression cannot be used to attack. It is unfortunate that some people considered the freedom of speech as their birthright to divide the country and further deepen divisions,” CM Adityanath said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) took suo motu cognisance of an Allahabad High Court order of March 17 which concluded that “mere” grabbing the breasts of a minor victim and breaking the string of her pyjama to “bring down” her lower garment are not sufficient facts to draw an inference that the accused persons were “determined to commit rape”. The suo motu case is listed before a Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai, to be heard on March 26, 2025. The listing came a day after another Bench of the top court refused to entertain a writ petition on the issue filed by a third party.

India and China on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) exchanged views on “early resumption” of cross-border cooperation and exchanges, including on trans-border rivers and Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra. This was during the 33rd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs held in Beijing. The two sides agreed to work together to make substantial preparation for the next meeting of the Special Representatives (SR), which will be held in India later this year.

Shreyas Iyer couldn’t have wished for a better start to his tenure as Punjab Kings skipper as he smashed an unbeaten 42-ball-97 before a disciplined bowling show by Arshdeep Singh and Impact Player Vyshak Vijaykumar guided the team to an 11-run win against Gujarat Titans in the IPL at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (March 25, 2025). On a surface, where the ball came onto the bat nicely, Shreyas flexed his muscles and dealt in boundaries as the Kings overcame a middle-order fumble to post their second-highest total in the tournament.

The three-member committee of High Court judges on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) began its in-depth inquiry into allegations of “sacks of half-burnt currency” found after dousing a fire in a storeroom at the Tughlak Crescent residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, who has been taken off judicial work and recommended for transfer to the Allahabad High Court by the Supreme Court Collegium. The committee visited the residence premises of Justice Varma for a little over half-hour as part of a second and a more intensive stage of the probe into the allegations.

Uttar Pradesh, with a population that is almost triple that of Tamil Nadu, gets less funding under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme (MGNREGS), the Rural Development Ministry claimed on Tuesday (March 25, 2025), during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. The claim — which is not borne out by the fiscal data on the MGNREGA website — led to strong protests from the Opposition, forcing Speaker Om Birla to adjourn the House for 15 minutes. In response, Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said that Tamil Nadu has already received ₹7,300 crore in this fiscal year. “Tamil Nadu has a population of seven crore, U.P. has a population of 20 crore. U.P. draws close to ₹10,000 crore, Tamil Nadu draws more than ₹10,000 crore. There is no question of not giving money,” Mr. Pemmasani said. 

Social media platform X has informed the Delhi High Court that it cannot be compelled to come onboard the Centre’s SAHYOG portal, which aims to create a unified framework to combat cybercrime, arguing that “X Corp has its own portal to process valid legal requests”. Pointing to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Shreya Singal vs. Union of India case, X — formely known as Twitter — argued that the SAHYOG portal falls outside the statutory scheme of Section 69A of the IT Act, which empowers the government to order online platforms to block information in specific circumstances. The portal would “create a parallel mechanism to the existing mechanism under Section 69A of the IT Act albeit without any procedures or safeguards. Thus, it is stated that X Corp cannot be compelled to come on the SAHYOG portal,” it said.