 "This Week in Explainers: Why IIT students are failing to get jobs this season")
This past week has been a busy, busy one for India. With the Lok Sabha polls right around the corner, much of the news in the country focused on the elections. This week we saw the BJP and Congress trading charges over a tiny piece of land — the Katchatheevu island — between India and Sri Lanka.
There was also news about India’s defence exports reaching an all-time record of Rs 21,083 crore in 2023-2024.
Apart from this, India also saw the release of Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh from jail in the Delhi liquor policy case — the same matter in which Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested.
Furthermore, India’s aviation sector hit turbulence when Vistara airlines had to cancel several flights after its pilots decided to go on mass leave.
As the week wraps up and we sit back, read our round-up to know what you might have missed.
1) The week started off on a bang when Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of weakening national sovereignty when it “handed over” the island of Katchatheevu , which is located in the Palk Strait, to Sri Lanka in 1974. The PM’s allegation came on the basis of an RTI filed by Tamil Nadu BJP leader Annamalai. The claim also led many to ask if India could reclaim it? Read our explainer to find our more.
2) India, this week, also saw the release of AAP leader Sanjay Singh following the Supreme Court granting him bail in the Delhi excise policy case. With this, the AAP MP was released from Tihar jail where he was lodged for the last six months. After walking out of jail, Singh addressed a press conference wherein he assured that his jailed party colleagues, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy CM Manish Sisodia and former minister Satyendar Jain will also be released soon. In our essay , we take a look at why Singh’s release is significant for the party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts3) For many years, India was one of the top defence importers. But times are changing. On Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that the country had reached a milestone; the country’s defence exports had cross the crossed the Rs 21,000-crore mark. According to the defence minister, the arms exports touched Rs 21,083 crore in the financial year 2023-24, a “spectacular growth” of 32.5 per cent over the previous fiscal. But who is India exporting to ? And more importantly which arms is the country selling?
4) For most people, an IIT degree is valuable and a sure-shot guarantee of a job. However, it seems that the premier educational institute has been hit by hiring woes.
Data reveals that an average of 30-35 per cent of students of the institutes are yet to be hired this year. But why are IITs struggling to find placements for its students? Read here to find out more.
5) The country is all geared up for the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, starting from 19 April. In the run-up to the polls, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced that there would be a surge in heatwaves in most parts of the country between April to June. India’s official weatherman said that heatwaves will last 10 to 20 days this time around, unlike the normal four to eight days, between April and June. The weather forecast has put a dampener on the polls, with many asking if it would affect voter turnout. Read our explainer to find out if that’s the case.
6) Vistara is one of India’s most popular airlines. But what happens if its pilots choose to take leave all together? It leads to chaos. The airline, jointly owned by Singapore Airlines and Tata Group, had to cancel or delay several flights earlier this week after pilots decided to skip work.
Their grouse is that they are upset about reported salary reductions upon merging with Air India and even the matter of the management not taking their complains of pilot fatigue seriously. We explain this here .
That’s all from us for this week. If you liked how we explain the news, here ’s where you can find some more.
Also, here’s an interesting read for the weekend: Forbes released its list of billionaires and there were quite a few entries from India. One of them is Ramesh Kunhikannan , whose wealth grew exponentially thanks to Chandrayaan-3.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
