Firstpost Editor's Picks: CBI FIR against Chandar Kochhar, Priyanka Gandhi's political debut, Sanjita Chanu's return; today's must-read stories

France and Germany can help India secure a free and open Indo-Pacific, counter ambitions of ascendant China Most of China’s neighbours, including India, are struggling to remain engaged with China while also trying to preserve their security and sovereign interests. As the EU has also been struggling to define its central purpose amidst the chaos surrounding Brexit, and to cobble up a coherent response to a rising Asian power, the call for India-EU partnership in the Indo-Pacific makes perfect sense. 'Reborn' after seeing her suspension revoked, weightlifter Sanjita Chanu vows to come back with a bang “After nine months of waiting for justice, I had given up hopes. I thought my weightlifting career was over. I was thinking of even quitting my job with the Railways. But with the taint of doping removed against my name, I am willing to get back and train. I had stopped following weightlifting results. I watched a bit of weightlifting action of the Asian Games and felt so frustrated. Every time I saw them lifting weights, I felt I should have been there. This news is like a rebirth for me,” says an ecstatic Sanjita Chanu, after IWF lifted her provisional suspension late on Tuesday night. Priyanka Gandhi poses the sternest test for Narendra Modi, might force cracks in social coalition forged since 2014 Acknowledging that the adversary has made a smart move is a self-defeating tactic, but the smart politician that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, he will know that the completion of what former aide, Prashant Kishor, dubbed as “one of the most awaited entries in Indian politics” adds to his litany of headaches. Priyanka Gandhi’s entry to active politics and that too as general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh (East) adds to the difficulties of Modi not just in the short term — his constituency Varanasi, or Uttar Pradesh politics — but also in the long term in national politics. CBI FIR against Chanda Kochhar in Videocon loan row details how middlemen bend rules to aid shoddy deals The CBI FIR dated 22 January, 2019, is a good read for the ICICI Bank board. It details step by step how the rules of the game were allegedly rigged by the Kochhars to favour Dhoot. The FIR also raises major questions on the real intention behind the initial haste of the ICICI Bank board to give a clean chit to Chanda, the lending rules practised by the lender and the larger corporate governance principles preached by banks, but which are not practised. Katrina Kaif Interview: 'If I repeat any more performances, I'd do a great disservice to myself' “I had a lot of fun with my work so far and I will continue having fun though I agree that at some point I was making choices which were not entirely truthful to the person I was then. For me, this is now the point where I am probably trying to deviate, slightly evolve and enter different spaces because I need that for me as a performer. I need that for my growth and I need that to keep challenging me and keep my interest and passion alive in my work,” Katrina Kaif on her realignment of film choices, why she does not regret quitting Remo D’Souza’s dance film and plans for marriage.