Good Morning, Swarajya Readers!



Here’s what you need to know today.



On the second anniversary of Prime Minister Modi’s landslide victory in General elections, two states go to polls today: Tamil Nadu and Kerala along with the union territory of Puducherry. After a gruelling two-month campaign, the results for these states and Assam and West Bengal will be announced on 19 May.



Three days after the private forecaster Skymet predicted an early monsoon, the state forecaster IMD says the monsoon is likely to arrive on 7 June, a week later, not before. However, it says there is a 94% probability that the monsoon rainfall this year will be 106% of the long period average, which is above normal. The arrival of the south-west monsoon in Kerala marks the beginning of rainy season.



The CBI has arrested Home Ministry undersecretary Anand Joshi, accused of being in illegal possession of files pertaining to Home Ministry and the I&B Ministry, including one relating to actions taken under FCRA against activist Teesta Setalvad’s NGO Sabrang Trust. Joshi says he is being framed as he refused to remove Ford Foundation from the blacklist for which he was offered in the tune of 200-250 crore.



Four Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), two Toyota Fortuner and as many Ford Endeavour have for the first time been deployed at high-altitude border posts of the ITBP along the China-India border. The troopers and officers will use these vehicles only for operational tasks to prevent their misuse.



The Delhi Government spent a whooping sum of Rs 14.56 crore in print ads in the last three months alone, with 5 crore spent only on advertising the odd-even scheme, according to an RTI reply. The list of publications which received money included dailies from Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha and Tamil Nadu among other states.



Op-eds You Shouldn’t Miss



Forgotten Promise Of Minimum Govt: Modi’s challenge is to begin building a new institutional structure that is suitable for a modern market economy, a potential global power and an aspirational middle-income country.



Modi Sarkar @2: PM Modi’s sound and sensible plan could lead to an economic recovery.



End Of Road For Congress: If the party and its allies lose in all four state elections, as opinion polls predict, the political dialogue will shift towards discussing the end of the Congress era.



Swarajya Special



Bull In The Chine Shop - The Indian Army Vs The PLA: We must transform mindsets, create the necessary infrastructure, reorganise and retrain ourselves to be able to ensure that our force posture and capabilities sufficiently dissuade the PLA from undertaking any adventures against us.



We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!