Good morning, 

🚨Big Story 

The Supreme Court held that it can exercise its powers under Article 142(1) of the Constitution to grant divorce on the ground of “irretrievable breakdown” of a marriage — whether it is by mutual consent, or even if one of the parties opposes it. It also said that it can waive the six-month waiting period mandated under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, under certain conditions.

⚡Only in the Express 

Express Interview | Ahead of the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls, state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar, who headed the BJP’s campaign manifesto, tells The Indian Express that the ruling party is not going to introduce Uniform Civil Code or National Register for Citizens (NRC) immediately after returning to power but will set up an expert committee to study it.

Read the full interview

📰 From the Front Page 

👉🏽Be it cars, phones or even household goods like soaps and toothpaste — sales in the premium segment across product categories have picked up pace, even as the lower end in these product segments struggle with tepid demand and an erosion of purchasing power. We break down the data. 

👉🏽 More than two years after 35 men and a giant Chinese Tunnel Boring Machine began cutting though complex geological strata, India’s first undersea twin tunnels in south Mumbai are close to completion.

👉🏽 The Centre told the Supreme Court that consultations for “re-examining” IPC Section 124A, which deals with sedition, are at a “substantially advanced stage”, following which proceedings on petitions challenging the provision were adjourned to the second week of August.

👩🏽‍💻Must Read 

Bihar is in the midst of a first-of-its-kind caste census and in Kalyanbigha village in Bihar’s Nalanda district, Kavita and three other enumerators, all teachers in nearby schools, are part of an exercise that has set off one of the hottest political debates in recent times. Fanning out across the village, they ask a set of 17 questions – the most contested of them all, in Column No. 3 that’s marked ‘Caste’.

At Nargund, Gadag district, a hero stone stands dedicated to the memory of 24-year-old farmer Sri Eerappa Basappa Kadlikoppa, who died in police firing during an agitation on July 21, 1980. Few metres behind the stone stands a new protest site — active since July 16, 2015 — of the Rait Sena, a farmers’ organisation at the forefront of an agitation demanding the implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project over the Mahadayi river. 

In our opinion section today, former civil servant Rajiv Mehrishi writes on same-sex marriage: Same-sex marriage issue has been hijacked by a minuscule minority that wants to impose its Western-influenced views on the Indian people

Chief India Economist at JP Morgan, and part-time member of PMEAC Sajjid Chinoy recently spoke at an Express Explained event on the US banking crisis, global slowdown and what it means for India. Read here

⏰And Finally 

Playing for Rajasthan Royals, Yashasvi Jaiswal on Sunday scored a blistering 124 against a star-studded Mumbai Indians  which took his season tally to 428 runs in nine games so far. A day after scoring his first hundred at his home ground, the youngster spoke about his batting and why he hasn’t got carried away with his recent success in IPL. Here are the excerpts from the interview

🤫Delhi confidential: With Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury set to continue as the chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), he will have the unique distinction of heading the panel for five consecutive years.

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 things’ podcast, we discuss why Bollywood actor Chrisann Pereira got arrested in Sharjah, highlights from the latest data on India’s health expenditure, and the challenges of tracking two tigers in Uttarakhand.

Until tomorrow,

Rahel Philipose and Anamni Gupta