Morning Digest: T.N. State song row triggers Guv-CM spat; Uddhav’s Sena refuses to hold Maharashtra seat-sharing talks with State Congress chief, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on October 19, 2024

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Friday (October 18, 2024) accused Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of making a ‘racist remark’ against him after the latter wondered if he was the “Governor” or an “Aryan”. Mr. Stalin had made the remarks following a distorted rendition of the State anthem eclipsing the reference to the glory of the “Dravida” land at an official function of DD Chennai in which Mr. Ravi participated.

Seat-sharing talks have hit a roadblock in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra as the Shiv Sena (UBT) has refused to hold discussions with Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, informed sources told The Hindu. After the stand has been communicated to the party high command, the Congress’s Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala is slated to meet Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence on Saturday (October 19, 2024) to pacify him.

Indian armed forces’ preparedness to deal with “hybrid warfare” is one of the 17 subjects that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has narrowed down for deliberations for the year.

In his first reaction after stepping out of jail, former Health Minister Satyendar Jain attacked the BJP-led Central government, saying leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were being sent to jail to put an end to the people-centric initiatives of party national convener and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

A 19-year-old woman who was allegedly set on fire by a man on Dasara, October 12, in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa passed away in Indore, police said on Friday. The girl had filed a molestation complaint against the accused’s father. 

The bypolls to six Assembly seats in West Bengal, scheduled to be held on November 13, test the impact of the protests over the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on the electoral prospects of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The Supreme Court on Friday (October 18, 2024) held that child betrothals, used as a clever ploy to duck punishment under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, violate basic rights of free choice, autonomy and childhood.