Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. India's benchmark stock market index, the Sensex, dropped to a one-year low on Tuesday, after weak Gross Domestic Product growth figures and concerns about the world economy.
2. Ten central trade unions are set to go on a one-day strike today to protest the government's labour reforms agenda, although the government claims essential services will not be hit.
3. The Indian men's cricket team beat Sri Lanka by 117 runs on Tuesday, giving the team its first Test series win in Sri Lanka in 22 years and first on foreign soil since 2011.

The Big Story: This land is my land
In Manipur, months of simmering tension came to a head this week. On Monday, the state government passed three bills, effectively putting in place an Inner Line Permit System that places restrictions on outsiders entering the state. The laws also make it difficult for outsiders to buy land in Manipur and fix 1951 as the base year to identify “non-indigenous” people. In response, mobs attacked the houses of MPs and MLAs in Churachandpur, in southern Manipur, which has a large tribal population. At least eight people have been killed in the violence so far, and a curfew has descended on the state.

Old fissures are laid bare once more, between the hills and the plains. The agitation for the  Inner Line Permit System,which has been building up over the last few months, was led by the Meiteis, who live in the oval basin of the valley and account for about 60% of the state’s population. It was resisted by the Nagas and Kukis, tribes who live largely in the hilly areas, in lands already protected under the Sixth Schedule and governed by customary laws.


The new state laws, they feel, will allow Meiteis to strengthen their claim for Schedule Tribe status and make incursions into the hill areas. They also fear the amendment to the land law will allow the state government to make inroads into protected territory and erode tribal autonomies. These insecurities have erupted in violence over the last few days.

The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Manipur urgently needs Inner Line Permits, Immanuel Zarzosang Varte writes, but it could heighten differences between communities. Richard Kamei explains that the protests are one community's attempt to retain its predominance in the region, while Thangkhanlal Ngaihte insists it will only cause more trouble.

Politicking & Policying
1.  The government has decided to waive the retrospective Minimum Alternative Tax, which applies to foreign investors, after many concerns about the tax.
2. Patedar community leader Hardik Patel has planned a "reverse Dandi march," going from Dandi to Ahmedabad to continue its agitation for Patel reservations.
3. A state-run Chinese daily has insisted that India's plan to conduct oil exploration off the Vietnam coast, which China claims, is "illegal".
4. The Bharatiya Janata Party-run government wants to turn the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library into a place that exhibits governance, instead of commemorating the life and times of India's first prime minister.
5. A panel might have to call in BJP president Amit Shah to get his weight checked, as the Bihar government seeks to probe an errant lift that left Shah and four others stuck in it for more than 40 minutes.

Punditry
1. Osama Manzar in Mint explains why the Digital India programme might end up excluding people rather than spreading digital inclusion.
2. Secretaries in the top ministries should have a fixed two-year tenure to allow for stability, writes AK Bhattacharyya in the Business Standard, pointing out that in 15 months this government has had three home secretaries, three finance secretaries and two foreign secretaries.
3. We have to address the anger and aspirations of poor families among unreserved communities like the Patels, writes Jayprakash Narayanan in the Hindu.
4. A poorly-run media becomes its own guillotine, writes Vanita Kohli-Khandekar in the Business Standard, after paying attention to the drama of the Indrani Mukherjea case.
5. Thus far, Modi’s approach to the economy has been timid and lacking in any obvious conviction, writes Sadanand Dhume in the Times of India.

Don't Miss:
Sandya Ravishankar explains why Tamil Nadu is the best state for new mothers.
“As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, everything is free for a pregnant woman until the child is six months old,” said S Srinivasan, state coordinator for the National Rural Health Mission in Chennai.

Once a woman registers her pregnancy with the state, she has access to free health check-ups, including five ultrasound scans. If required, the government also covers the cost of caesarean births and anaesthetists.