Above the Fold: Top stories of the day

1. The government is set to reissue the land acquisition ordinance, which will involve proroguing the Rajya Sabha.
2. After former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani, even her assistant has managed to get out on bail. Both have been found guilty in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 riots, in which almost a 100 Muslims were killed.
3. West Bengal police has arrested two men suspecting of being involved in the rape of an elderly nun in a convent in Ranaghat in West Bengal’s Nadia district.
4. The Sensex fell by 2.3% driven by rising crude prices as a result of Saudi Arabia’s air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
5. The Airbus A320 that crashed on Tuesday was flown into a mountain on purpose by the co-pilot.

The Big Story: India lose to Australia in World Cup semifinal
After a dream run of seven straight wins, India crashed into the Australia wall in the World Cup semifinal. Batting first and scoring a large total of 328, the Aussies were in control for most of the match and managed to pull a 95-run win in the end.

This win sets up an Australia-New Zealand final ‒ an interesting proposition, given their traditional rivalry.

Talking to the press after the match, Dhoni seemed to suggest that he would continue to play international cricket at least until the 2016 World Twenty20 tournament. In the middle of a poor batting performance by India, Dhoni’s run-a-ball 65 stood out. In spite of this, though, the security at Dhoni’s Ranchi house has been beefed up.

The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Indian cricket fans are a temperamental lot. As the team started to slide, angry fans began to blame Virat Kohli’s girlfriend, Anushka Sharma, for the defeat. Times Now, smelling blood, devised the Twitter hashtag #ShamedinSydney, to bash the Indian team. The fans rallied around the team to bash the channel right back. The hashtag #ShameonTimesNow became the number one trending topic, globally.

Times Now’s over-the-top reaction was all the more perplexing given that India played some great cricket till the semifinal, where it seems Australia were simply the better team.

Now that India’s out of the Cup, it may be time to shift your attention from cricket to, say, gilli danda? Or even kabaddi. If, however, you’re still down in the dumps after this loss, there’s always Rahul Gandhi.

Politicking & Policy-ing
1. Truce negotiations have ended in the Aam Aadmi Party, setting up a showdown at Saturday's National Council meeting.
2. The Congress has released its schedule for organisation elections, an exercise which could throw up Rahul Gandhi as party president.
3. Former Congress law minister HR Bhardwaj launched a sharp attack on Sonia Gandhi.
4. Sikhs protested outside the CBI headquarters against a clean chit to Congress leader, Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 riots.

Giggle


Punditry
1. In The Indian Express,  Niti Aayog member, Bibek Debroy runs us through the expected growth of so-called smart cities in India.
2.Satish Deshpande in The Hindu argues that we need to question reservations ‒ not because they aren’t needed but because they aren’t big enough.
3. In Mint, Dipankar De Sarkar explains how free speech should be respected not only because it’s right but because it’s also good for business.
4. In The Telegraph, Swapan Dasgupta discusses the rise of the European Union and the lessons it holds out for India.
5. Narendra Modi’s land acquisition bill is an egregious example of state paternalism argues Sudeep Chakravarti in Mint.
Don't Miss

Binoo K John considers whether laws in European countries which prevent e-commerce sites from selling books at low prices could be used in India to protect bookshops.
This follows a pattern developing over the last two years in India, with every major city having lost many famous bookshops – close to 100 by a rough estimate.

Most Indian bookshops may be doomed to be die sooner or later. The few that are soldering on are mostly living in denial. Sales have dropped, though no one will openly agree.

People now use bookshops to check out a book, feel its physical presence in their hands, read the blurb on the back cover, return the book to its shelf, go home and order it from one of the virtual bookshops for at least a 25 per cent discount. In most cases delivery too is free.