Morning Digest: Rescue operations in Wayanad recover more than 180 bodies; Supreme Court judges call for policy to remove quota for SCs, STs in creamy layer, and more

The Hindu’s Morning Digest on August 2, 2024, gives a select list of stories to start the day

The rescue and disaster teams engaged in the rescue and search operations at Chooralmala in Wayanad have recovered 189 bodies including 85 men, 76 women and 27 children and 100 body parts from various locations, according to the Revenue department. The gender of a body is yet to be identified.

A majority of four judges on a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on August 1 called for the need to evolve a “different” set of criteria to exclude the ‘creamy layer’ among the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) from reservation benefits.

Swapnil Kusale won India’s third medal — all of which have been bronze medals in shooting — at the Paris Olympics after a stellar comeback in the men’s 50m rifle three positions final.

But Kusale’s medal was the lone bright spot for most of the day as Indian athletes lost in most other sports they competed.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed its first chargesheet against 13 accused persons in connection with the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) 2024 paper leak case of Patna in Bihar. The probe agency has so far arrested 40 persons, including several medical students, for their alleged involvement in the racket.

The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on August 1, with Moscow releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan in a multinational deal that set some two dozen people free, according to officials in Türkiye, where the exchange took place.

India does not believe in “expansionism”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday indirectly referring to Chinese activities in the South China Sea. Welcoming the Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Mr. Modi indirectly referred to China and highlighted the importance of freedom of navigation.