Ritika Chopra
@RitikaChopra__
Followers
41,205
Following
1,086
Media
800
Statuses
12,261
Bureau Chief (Govt) & Education Editor @IndianExpress ; Awards: @globalfreemedia India Award '20, Ramnath Goenka Award '21 & Chameli Devi Jain Award 2024
New Delhi
Joined May 2013
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Pinned Tweet
Thrilled and deeply honoured by this recognition - feel privileged to be part of a list which includes so many inspiring women journalists. 🙏🙏
And congrats,
@jeegujja
The Media Foundation is pleased to announce that the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Media Person of the Year has been won jointly by independent journalist Greeshma Kuthar and Ritika Chopra of The Indian Express.
Many congratulations to the winners!
20
88
131
28
8
120
At a time when varsity cut-offs have hit 100,
@IndianExpress
tracked down a generation of Board exam toppers between 1996 & 2015 to find out the consequences of a convention that celebrates a few students every yr.
Our 3-part deep dive: Tracking India's Toppers 👨🎓🥇
🧵(1/n)
264
2K
8K
Modi govt has carried out the most SWEEPING changes (yet) in school textbooks 📚 since it came to power in 2014!
Starting today,
@IndianExpress
will take you through the GLARING deletions in NCERT's history, pol science & sociology textbooks for Classes 6 to 12.
#Thread
(1/n)
104
2K
4K
🚨SCOOP: Modi govt has QUIETLY made last-minute changes in the new social science textbooks which hit market recently.
These controversial tweaks were LEFT OUT of
#NCERT
's official announcement on "rationalised content" last year.
Details in 🧵
(1/n)
177
2K
4K
BREAKING: Two days after PB Mehta’s exit, economist Arvind Subramanian also resigns from Ashoka Univ.
In his letter to V-C Malabika Sarkar, Subramanian cited circumstances involving Mehta’s exit & the fact Ashoka could not protect academic expression
67
1K
4K
Serum Institute’s Rs 600/dose for Covishield in private hospitals is its highest rate the WORLD over ....
**slow clap**
via
@IndianExpress
254
953
2K
JUST IN: Over 150 academicians from Harvard, Yale, Princeton & Oxford come out in support of Pratap Bhanu Mehta
354
565
2K
BIG: On Dec 11, JNU V-C Jagadesh Kumar was given an ultimatum to either end the standoff with agitating students or RESIGN. In less than 48 hrs, the higher education secretary was shunted out.
61
1K
2K
Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa had opposed five clean chits to Modi & Amit Shah. Of these, 4 pertain to the Prime Minister.
My report: via
@IndianExpress
64
843
2K
Deeply honoured to win the International Press Institute-India Award 2020. It recognises my coverage of the LS Polls 2019 revealing the divide within the Election Commission in its response to complaints alleging poll code violations by PM Narendra Modi & Amit Shah
#Thread
147
278
2K
BREAKING: Class 12 result to be decided based on performance in Class 10 (30%weightage), Class 11 (30% weightage) & Class 12 (40%), CBSE informs Supreme Court
@IndianExpress
82
230
2K
SCOOP: After REPEATED denials, Modi Govt has admitted that the IIM-Rohtak director it had appointed did not have the required education qualification.
This admission came AFTER the director completed his 5yr term last month & in fact has got a 2nd term!
77
850
2K
JUST IN: EC suspends a sector officer after three EVMs and four VVPAT machines were found in TMC leader Goutam Ghosh’s residence
@IndianExpress
28
333
2K
Every second person getting tested in Kolkata is positive | Kolkata News - Times of India
140
850
2K
More on the events leading up to Pratap Bhanu Mehta quitting Ashoka University 👇🏽
1. Ashoka’s founders, including Ashish Dhawan & Pramath Raj Sinha, had met Mehta recently & are said to have referred to the “current political environment” to suggest that he should leave
#Thread
45
392
1K
Remember the Institutions of Eminence (IOE) scheme & the political firestorm over Jio Institute's selection?
5 yrs on,
@IndianExpress
decided to check on Modi govt's promise of autonomy & global standards for 20 institutions of higher learning.
Here's what we found:
🧵 (1/n)
39
687
1K
EXCLUSIVE: Election Commission orders
#Facebook
to remove poster with
#Abhinandan
's photograph shared by BJP MLA via
@IndianExpress
41
349
1K
DELETED: "A Dalit is likely to be confined to.. scavenging..."
"..women & shudras not allowed to study Vedas"
The 2nd part of our investigation on the revised school textbooks 📚 focuses on the key deletions on caste, discrimination & minorities
🧵 (1/n)
40
619
1K
BREAKING: Election Commission moves Supreme Court against “uncalled for, blatantly disparaging and derogatory remarks" by Madras HC that the poll body "should be put on murder charges” for not stopping political parties” from flouting COVID protocol in rallies
94
240
1K
The most glaring 👀of them are the deletions pertaining to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination
DELETED 👉: Ban imposed on the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) by the union govt after Gandhi's death dropped from Class Political Science textbook
(see pic for deleted sentences)
(2/n)
15
526
1K
By & large, past Board toppers have good lives. But looking back, many feel school education did not provide the foundation it claims to deliver.
We conclude our series (Tracking India's Toppers 🎓👩🎓) by asking what they think of school several yrs after graduation
🧵 (1/n)
41
268
1K
.
@IndianExpress
editoral on NCERT textbook deletions: The recent revisions invite the charge that not only does the government wish to escape unpalatable facts, but it also wants to ensure that students do not engage with social and political realities with a critical attitude.
24
457
1K
SCOOP: Even as the
#AaryanKhan
arrest saga plays out, a ministry in Modi Govt has proposed a more humane approach for drug users.
Social Justice Min wants NDPS Act to be amended to treat drug users as victims in need of rehabilitation, NOT imprisonment
23
323
1K
BIG: Election Commission set to write to Prez Ram Nath Kovind on Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh's remark calling for Narendra Modi’s win. Singh violated the Model Code of Conduct, finds EC via
@IndianExpress
78
452
952
JUST IN: CBSE drops the controversial reading passage & accompanying questions on “emancipation of the wife”. Board decides to award full marks to all students for the said passage.
@IndianExpress
31
300
1K
BIG: Ashok Lavasa breaks silence on recusal from EC meetings.
It was Supreme Court's criticism of EC's delayed reaction to hate speeches that prompted him to seek timely disposal of Model Code complaints, Lavasa tells
@IndianExpress
.
#Thread
(1/n)
22
429
948
BIG: Sikkim bans entry of domestic tourists into the state to contain spread of
#COVID
-19. It's the first state to do so.
15
339
986
BREAKING: ECI bans all victory processions during and after counting on May 2 in view of rising COVID-19 cases.
This comes a day after Madras HC asked EC to prepare a blueprint of how COVID protocol will be followed on the day of counting
@IndianExpress
43
166
978
EXCLUSIVE: EC invoked the armed forces in a print ad urging WB’s electors to vote, even as it advises political leaders to not make any reference to Defence personnel in poll campaign.
An ad of this nature is probably a 1st for the poll body. My report 👇🏽
55
357
933
BREAKING: EC asks a committee of officers to see whether PM's address to the nation violated the Model Code of Conduct
@IndianExpress
78
253
893
JUST IN: EC advises UP CM Yogi Adityanath to be more careful in his reference to defence forces in poll campaign
@IndianExpress
225
218
828
SCOOP: EC went against the opinion of its officers (Maha CEO & Osmanabad DEO) to give Modi an all-clear for invoking Balakot airstrikes in Latur on Apr 9
Officers were over-ruled on the technicality that PM didn't seek votes for BJP or himself while referring to airstrikes (1/2)
No violation in PM Latur speech invoking Balakot since votes not directly sought: EC
17
19
69
56
680
828
SCOOP: In the two clean chits to Modi for his speeches at Wardha and Latur, Election Commission's decision was NOT unanimous.
In both cases, one Commissioner had dissented & the final call, in favour of the PM, was taken by a majority of 2-1
71
513
807
IMPORTANT: TISS dismisses 55 faculty members, 60 non-teaching staff at 4 campuses without notice, says no funds from Tata Education Trust.
This includes half the teachers at its Guwahati campus, some of whom had been working there for over a decade
88
524
875
BREAKING: CBSE Class 12 Board exam scrapped for this year. Decision taken after meeting chaired by Prime Minister.
@IndianExpress
21
175
833
BREAKING: EC bans rallies, public meetings & street plays in West Bengal from 7pm to 10am (starting today) in view of rising COVID-19 cases.
Silence period for the remaining phases (6, 7 & 8) to be extended from 48 hours to 72 hours.
@IndianExpress
117
168
820
BREAKING: Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa set to join as vice President at the Asian Development Bank
@IndianExpress
18
146
825
.
@IndianExpress
editorial: IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw got it slightly wrong. Trying to snoop on citizens unlawfully is what maligns Indian democracy. For the sake of national security, the department of dirty tricks needs to come clean.
12
256
816
Not sure why everyone is suddenly outraging over deletions pertaining to Mughal rulers from NCERT textbooks that happened a year ago! 🥴
Anyhoo, using this opportunity to re-plug our investigation from June 2022 detailing ALL deletions from NCERT's social science textbooks
(1/4)
12
338
820
BIG!!
Harvard & M.I.T sue Trump administration over plan to require in-person classes for foreign students, reports
@nytimes
9
184
801
On paper, no student in India is better positioned to excel in life than the national toppers of Board exams. But even within this group, there are gender differences.
For the 2nd part of our deep dive ('Tracking India's Toppers), we focus on the women toppers 👩🎓🥇
🧵(1/n)
17
227
804
First in
@IndianExpress
: Not just Ashoka Lavasa’s wife, his sister & son too are under tax dept's scanner.
Incidentally, Lavasa had on 5 occasions opposed EC's clean chit to Modi & Amit Shah on charges of violating the Model Code during Lok Sabha polls.
27
440
780
Yesterday, when a few AAP's winning candidates reached Bhagwant Mann's house, policemen would not let them pass because they could not recognise them. One of them was Labh Singh, a mobile phone repair shop owner from Barnala who had just defeated the Punjab CM.
@grewal_sharma
10
201
803
EXCLUSIVE: PM Modi’s Balakot remark at a rally in Latur this week is a prima facie violation of the Model Code, Maharashtra poll officer tells EC in his report.
Commission's decision on the matter likely today. My report: via
@IndianExpress
38
485
755
SCOOP: How HRD Ministry raised the bar on accountability, financial commitment, penalties, land availability & expertise for
#InstitutionsOfEminence
, only to be eased by Prime Minister's Office.
First of
@IndianExpress
series on
#InstitutionOfEminence
33
558
772
SCOOP: NCERT revises Class 12 History Chapter on Harappan Civilisation
The changes introduced rule out Aryan immigration, state that Harappans were indigenous & even call for more research into whether Harappans & Vedic people were the same.
@IndianExpress
🧵 (1/n)
54
414
820
JUST IN: Suvendu Adhikari defeats Mamata Banerjee by 1,736 votes in Nandigram as per EVM count.
Currently, mandatory VVPAT verification is underway. Results to be officially announced only after that.
@IndianExpress
12
101
763
Over half the toppers (CBSE & CISCE) live overseas today, USA 🇺🇸 being the destination of choice.
Three of every four who are abroad are either working or pursuing higher education in USA. Others are in the UK, Australia, Singapore, China, Canada, Bangladesh and UAE
(3/n)
13
160
757
.
@IndianExpress
Edit: By disclosing the source of funds received through electoral bonds JMM has set a welcome precedent. Others must follow.
6
192
770
BIG: EC acts against Delhi Police officer for his statement yesterday that the Shaheen Bagh shooter, Kapil Gujjar, was a member of AAP
@IndianExpress
27
331
757
BREAKING: EC has stopped release of biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
@IndianExpress
51
289
692
Jamia Millia Islamia V-C records a message for her students. Stands in solidarity with them and says she will flag the issue of cops forcing their way into the university with authorities at the highest level.
29
278
723
In the last part of our investigation on NCERT textbooks, we look at the key people involved in drafting the new school curriculum
@Sourav_RB
found the govt has appointed 24 people with RSS links to the committees working on curriculum changes!
#Thread
25
430
708
Of the total 86 toppers, only one belonged to the OBC category. None was Dalit or tribal, just 5 were first-generation college-goers -- all pointing to a connection between academic achievement and privilege.
(10/n)
32
174
711
JUST IN: EC relaxes its 48-hour campaigning ban on BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma to 24 hours. He can start campaigning from this evening.
@IndianExpress
61
82
698
JUST IN: Jamia Millia Islamia Proctor Waseem Khan issues statement.
35
461
688
EXCLUSIVE: More EC clean chits for Modi-Shah duo, but not without one Election Commissioner registering his dissent
Decision to let BJP chief Amit Shah off the hook for his Nagpur speech, in which he likened Wayanad to Pak, was taken by 2-1 majority (1/3)
66
355
674
🚨SCOOP🚨: Modi Govt overruled objections from an autonomous institute to push Baba Ramdev’s bid to set up Bharatiya Shiksha Board (a national school board on Vedic education) just hours before the Model Code of Conduct for 2019 LS polls kicked in.
(1/2)
17
422
711
BIG: Alarm bells ring on campuses as leading US-based firm withdraws 17 job offers to IIT-D, IIT-K, IIT-M & IIM-C citing
#COVID19Pandemic
.
Looming economic distress, IITs & IIMs fear, could force more companies to rescind placement offers. My report:
51
437
671
Right under Delhi Police nose, men with rods, sticks assault, set homes ablaze, check ID cards, smash CCTVs.
@IndianExpress
describes 11 instances of police apathy witnessed by its reporters
@Sourav_RB
&
@dipankarghose31
.
19
428
660
BIG: Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s resignation from Ashoka this week came after a meeting with founders in which it was made clear that his association with the Univ “maybe considered a political liability”.
Read the complete text of his resignation letter here👇🏽
13
298
675
#ExpressEducation
| Last yr, when Karnataka govt banned hijab in classrooms, Tabassum Shaik, was faced with a decision — prioritise education, or religious beliefs.
She chose education..
..on Friday, she topped the state board exam
By
@KiranParashar21
71
157
683
OP Rawat: ‘Note ban had absolutely no impact on black money. During polls we seized a record amount’ via
@IndianExpress
21
394
637
Chuffed to receive the International Press Institute-India Award 2020 from Sir Mark Tully last night
It recognises my coverage of the Election Commission of India during the last Lok Sabha elections.
More on stories here 👉:
Deeply honoured to win the International Press Institute-India Award 2020. It recognises my coverage of the LS Polls 2019 revealing the divide within the Election Commission in its response to complaints alleging poll code violations by PM Narendra Modi & Amit Shah
#Thread
147
278
2K
75
47
646
.
@IndianExpress
report on IIM-Rohtak Director's missing undergraduate degree finds a mention in
@ravishndtv
's Prime Time 🙂
19
123
655
EXCLUSIVE: CCTVs missing, unguarded strong-rooms where Q papers are kept: Review of
#NEET
2024 by a third party found glaring gaps in exam centres on May 5. Findings shared with NTA on June 16.
Report by
@DeekshaTeri
… via
@IndianExpress
20
380
644
EXHIBIT B:
Sentences on how Gandhi's steadfast pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists have been removed from the Class 12 Political Science textbook
(see highlighted sentences in photo)
(3/n)
11
288
660
एक विचित्र क्रॉनॉलॉजी 🤔
* Feb 2017: Edu Min appointed Dheeraj Sharma as IIM Rohtak head
* 2yrs later, Modi govt defended his appointment in court
* This week, govt told court Sharma is liable for criminal action for lying about his edu qualification
24
316
651
"Where are India's board toppers?"
18
129
645
FIRST in
@IndianExpress
: Election Commission ready to allow postal ballots for NRI voters, Govt doesn't need Parliament nod to implement proposal
24
138
640
Sharp
@IndianExpress
edit on Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's hectoring & bullying in Supreme Court yesterday
#mustread
(1/2)
17
268
621
EXCLUSIVE: Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa's objection pushes EC to
rethink its clean chit to NITI Aayog & PMO via
@IndianExpress
16
287
594
EXCLUSIVE: The full Commission -- CEC Sunil Arora, ECs Ashoka Lavasa & Sushil Chandra -- has not had a single deliberation since April 5 on the alleged Model Code of Conduct violations by PM Narendra Modi via
@IndianExpress
25
456
595
Wait, there are MORE deletions pertaining to Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.
In the Class 12 History textbook titled ‘Themes In Indian History Part III’, NCERT has dropped a “Brahmin” reference to
#Godse
and that he was “the editor of an extremist Hindu newspaper”.
(5/n)
16
319
623
With the removal of the above paragraph 👆, NCERT has purged all references to Gujarat riots from its textbooks!
The above was the only surviving reference to the 2002 riots in NCERT textbooks.
(7/n)
16
255
624
JUST IN: EC asks political parties to advise their leaders to desist from using photographs of defence personnel in their poll campaign
@IndianExpress
32
327
586
JUST: EC orders repolling in polling station 179 of Ratabari seat in Assam.
Orders issued after an EVM was found being transported in a car belonging to the BJP candidate.
Officers responsible for transportation of EVMs belonging to PS 179 suspended
@IndianExpress
22
170
578
ANOTHER reference to the Gujarat riots deleted 👇
DROPPED: A paragraph from Class 11 Sociology book that talks about how class, religion & ethnicities lead to segregation of residential areas & cites 2002 Gujarat riots to illustrate how communal violence furthers ghettoisation
7
302
587
.
@KapilMishraAAP
Delhi Govt's public grievance management system is super efficient. Complaint resolved in two days!
59
416
550
.
@IndianExpress
journalist & colleague
@ravishkt
goes ON RECORD about the GoM report on improving Govt communication 👇🏽
11
171
556
This is what the old and re-printed version of the pages look like 👇
(Source: Class 12 textbook 'Politics in India since Independence)
(4/n)
5
241
564
EXCLUSIVE: Govt said buy VVPATs from private sector, Election Commission said no, will hurt public faith. My report in today's
@IndianExpress
, based on docs accessed under RTI
17
402
513
In its four-year tenure from July 2019 to April 2023, the BJP govt in Karnataka issued 7 separate orders to drop prosecution in 385 criminal cases, including 182 cases of hate speech, cow vigilantism and communal violence
via
@IndianExpress
7
266
524
Exclusive: During the 2019 LS polls, instances of EVMs breaking down had sparked political uproar.
Now, docs obtained by an RTI activist show that even within EC, in the lead-up to the polls, there were concerns over the high rate of EVM parts failing
15
336
539
First in
@IndianExpress
: Less than 2yrs after he stepped down as V-C, noted scholar Pratap Bhanu Mehta resigns as Ashoka Univ professor.
Also
Asked if his criticism of the govt had anything to do with his exit, Ashoka University sidestepped the question
16
189
515
A quarter of those working in the US are in Silicon Valley.
Like Rishabh Singh (34), who topped the CBSE Class 12 exam in 2004 and is now Research Scientist with Google X.
@Google
is home to 11 toppers, the most in any one company!
(5/n)
1
47
510
Each is a story of talent, effort & achievement. But taken together, the arcs of their lives & careers tell the story of a generation coming of age in a liberalised India. Of how some aspirations endure & some don’t; how some divides crumbled & some stay intractable.
(2/n)
3
53
513
Tamil Nadu's demand for scrapping
#NEETexam
for admissions to medical colleges is backed by data
Acc to numbers crunched by a govt-appointed panel, the entrance test skewed results in favour of English-medium, well-off, urban & CBSE kids in TN.
Details👇
20
205
516
Here's the link to the first part of our deep dive:
4
101
499
India's top management institute's new code of conduct for teachers includes no criticism of institute or Govt, no joining demonstrations that hurt “public order” or “decency,” curbs on going to court or press & no signing joint petitions for redressal
38
241
492
They grab headlines every year for their impressive Board results. Today
@IndianExpress
turns the spotlight on their little-known struggle with mental health on campus.
Suicides in Navodaya Vidyalayas: 49 in 5 yrs, half of them Dalit & tribal students
42
420
478
Of those employed abroad, most work in the tech sector, followed by medicine and finance.
(4/n)
5
52
479
FIRST in
@IndianExpress
: Subramanian Swamy objects to PhD thesis by an IIM-Ahmedabad student. Govt asks institute for a copy, but director pushes back
20
191
486
👉The 2nd reference has been removed from the Class 12 Sociology textbook. This is a paragraph that cites the example of Gujarat riots & anti-Sikh riots to describe how communalism drives people to "kill, rape, and loot members of other communities."
(4/n)
4
197
481
