The Catch Up: 15 August

3 Things

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Ichha Sharma
Today is the 15th of August and here are the headlines.
In the first Independence Day speech of his third term, Prime Minister Narendra addressed core ideological issues, underlining the need to move towards a “secular civil code” instead of the existent “communal civil code”. PM Modi said, quote, “The Supreme Court has repeatedly discussed a Uniform Civil Code in India. It is true that the civil code that we have is a communal civil code. It is based on discrimination. It is our duty to fulfil the vision of our constitution makers. Unquote.
A team of UN experts will visit Bangladesh next week to investigate the killings of protesters before and after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as Prime Minister last week. According to a post by the Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh on X, this will be the first UN fact-finding mission to Bangladesh since its independence in 1971 to address widespread human rights abuses. Muhammad Yunus, who assumed office as Chief Adviser on the 8th of August following Hasina’s departure to India, confirmed the visit. The mission will focus on atrocities committed during the Student Revolution in July and early August over the government job quota reforms.
The Central Bureau of Investigation summoned five doctors today for questioning in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The Kolkata police detained nine people following a night of violence and vandalism on the ground floor of the Emergency building at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Nurses have demanded proper security on the premises, with one stating to PTI that such hooliganism inside a hospital is unacceptable.
Meanwhile, in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district, a daily wage worker was arrested a week after the body of a nurse working in a private hospital was found. According to police, the accused, identified as Dharmendra Kumar from Bareilly, allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered the woman after intercepting her while she was going home alone after duty at the hospital on the 30th of July. This incident comes in the wake of indefinite nationwide protests against the rape and murder case of a junior doctor in a Kolkata hospital.
On the global front, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he will be stepping down from his position next month and will not contest the upcoming election for a new chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Kishida has faced a tumultuous time in office, with his government plagued by scandals and an approval rating of just 20 percent, indicating a severe erosion of public trust.
This was the catch up on 3 Things for the Indian Express.