The Catch Up: 17 June

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.It’s the 17th of June and here are today's headlines.At least nine people were killed and 25 others were injured today after the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga  Express was hit by a goods train in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri. According to reports, three coaches at the back of the Kanchanjunga Express derailed between Neechbari and Rangapani stations under the Indian Railways’ Northeast Frontier Railway zone due to the impact of the goods train and fell to the side. Meanwhile, rescue work to get the trapped passengers out was affected by the heavy rain that has been lashing Siliguri since the morning.The revised NCERT Class 12 Political Science textbook, which hit the market last week, disclosed changes where the chapter on secularism in both versions of the textbook has two paragraphs on ‘vote bank politics’ in a section on “criticism of Indian secularism”. The book reads, quote,"Vote bank politics in India is associated with “minority appeasement” and this means political parties “disregard the principles of equality of all citizens and give priority to the interests of a minority group”.As the Indian economy grapples with the problem of flagging consumption, policymakers in the government are in favour of rationalising the existing income tax structure, especially at lower income levels. According to two government officials The Indian Express spoke with, it is likely that tax rate cuts for those earning less may likely take precedence over freebies or excessive welfare spending given the focus on fiscal consolidation.Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who is accused by the US of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was extradited from the Czech Republic on 14th of June. Officials at the Czech Ministry of Justice told The Indian Express the decision to extradite Gupta was taken on 3rd of june. India has said it is holding a high-level probe into the US inputs on the alleged assassination plot since November last year, but there have been no outcomes so far.In the first visit by a senior American official since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was re-elected for a third term, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reached India on a two-day official visit beginning today. Sullivan met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval today. Sullivan’s visit comes at a time when India-US ties are going through challenges, especially in the context of an alleged assassination plot against Khalistani separatist figure Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.