A look at the top headlines of the day:

  1. Prashant Kishor declines offer to join Congress: Kishor said that the Congress party needs leadership and collective will to fix its “deep rooted structural problems” through transformational reforms.
  2. Four persons killed in suicide bombing inside Karachi University: Three Chinese nationals were among the dead. Baloch Liberation Army, which opposes Chinese investment in Pakistan, claimed responsibility of the attack.
  3. Three coronavirus vaccines for children approved by drug controller:  The vaccines are Covaxin for children aged between 6 and 12, Corbevax for the 5-12 age group and two-dose ZyCoV-D for those 12 years and above.
  4. Supreme Court rejects plea on judicial inquiry into Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti communal clashes: The petitioner had asked for a commission headed by a former Chief Justice of India to lead an impartial investigation.
  5. Jignesh Mevani’s bail plea rejected in assault case: Mevani was re-arrested on Monday right after he was granted bail by a court in Assam’s Kokrajhar city for his tweet about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  6. Government using laws to deprive minorities of livelihood, ex-civil servants tell prime minister: Over 100 former IAS officers said that anti-conversion laws, ban on beef consumption and demolition drives are used to ‘strike fear’ among minorities.
  7. Gautam Navlakha’s plea for house arrest dismissed by Bombay High Court in Bhima Koregaon case: Navlakha, 70, is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, which pertains to caste violence in a village near Pune in 2018. He was among 16 people arrested for allegedly plotting the violence.
  8. Ukraine conflict a wake-up call for Europe to look at challenges in Asia, says S Jaishankar: While speaking at a geopolitics conference in Delhi, Jaishankar said that Asia is not an “easy part of the world” and that terrorism was rampant in the region.
  9. Remove illegal loudspeakers from religious places, Uttar Pradesh tells police: Last week, Chief Minister Adityanath had said that the sound from the loudspeakers should not spill beyond the boundaries of the premises.
  10. Jawaharlal Nehru University is politically charged, but not anti-national, says Vice-Chancellor Santishree Pandit: She said that most of the students on the campus belong to underprivileged backgrounds, and any negative branding will hurt their chances of procuring jobs.