This Week in Explainers: The reason Maharashtra govt cannot remove Aurangzeb’s tomb

It was a week of heightened emotions for India. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who died more than 300 years dominated political discourse in Maharashtra. Violence erupted in Nagpur amid calls for the demolition of the 17th-century ruler’s tomb.

US astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore finally returned to Earth after nine months in space. Her homecoming was a cause of celebration for a village in Gujarat. We will tell you why.

In other news, a horrific murder has stunned Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut. A Merchant Navy officer was allegedly killed by his wife and her lover, revealing a tale of betrayal, diligent planning, and brutal execution.

Here’s all this and more in our weekly roundup of stories from India.

1. Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor who ruled India from 1658 to 1707, has returned to the spotlight. The release of the movie Chhaava has reignited the ire against him in Maharashtra. Calls have grown for the demolition of Aurangzeb’s tomb in the western state’s Khuldabad, with even some politicians supporting the demand of fringe right-wing groups.

Violent clashes took place in Nagpur earlier in the week after rumours spread that a holy book of the minority community was desecrated during a protest seeking the removal of the Mughal emperor’s tomb. Aurangzeb continues to be a loathed figure by the Hindu nationalists for many reasons. One of these was for his execution of Maratha king Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, which has been graphically portrayed in the Bollywood film. Despite demands to raze the Mughal emperor’s grave, the Maharashtra government cannot remove it. We explain in this story.

2. India, which is a top remittance-receiving country, has seen a shift in its leading sources of monies from its citizens living overseas and the diaspora. The United States has replaced the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to bag the top spot in the list of India’s sources of inward remittances. Its share increased from 23.4 per cent in 2020-21 to 27.7 per cent in 2023-24, as per RBI’s monthly bulletin in March.

The UAE has become the second largest contributor to remittances coming to India. The central bank’s report points to a move away from Gulf nations and towards advanced economies. We will tell you about it in this report .

3. Elon Musk-owned X’s AI chatbot Grok could land in trouble in India. It recently kicked up a storm across the country’s online spaces with its cheeky and direct replies. However, Grok’s use of Hindi slang and expletives in some of its responses has brought it under the scanner.

Reports say the Ministry of Information and Technology has asked X about the data on which the chatbot was trained. Grok even addressed the issue in a reply to a user, saying there is “no shutdown, just scrutiny”. Read our story here .

4. Saurabh Rajput, a Merchant Navy officer, was allegedly stabbed to death and chopped into pieces by his wife Muskan Rastogi and her lover, Sahil Shukla, in Meerut. His body was later put inside the drum and sealed with cement. The details of the brutal murder have sent shockwaves across the country.

Saurabh’s family has claimed that his six-year-old daughter was aware of his murder and its aftermath. However, the police have refuted this. Why did Muskan plot to kill her husband? How did she trick Sahil into committing the crime? We explain in this report .

5. Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are back on Earth after a months-long journey in space. The duo, which was to return from the International Space Station (ISS) last June, got stuck in space for nine months.

Williams and Wilmore came back on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that had a splashdown off Florida’s coast this week. As visuals of their return emerged, the world cheered. A village in Gujarat also joined the celebrations, holding special prayers and bursting firecrackers to welcome Williams. But why was that village in Gujarat so elated at her return? Read our story to find out.

6. A ‘blockbuster’ weight loss drug has made its debut in the Indian market. US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has launched its Mounjaro, a diabetes and weight-loss drug, in India. It is among the class of drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic that have taken the world by storm for spurring weight loss.

Chemically known as tirzepatide, Mounjaro is an injectable drug which is to be administered once a week to treat type 2 diabetes. The drug is reportedly priced at Rs 3,500 for a 2.5 mg vial and Rs 4,375 for a 5 mg vial. But how does Mounjaro compare to another popular weight loss drug – Ozempic? We explain in this report .

This is all we have for you this week. If you like the way we explain news, you can bookmark this page to stay updated.