This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain, extending warm wishes to our listeners on the occasion of India's 75th Republic Day today.
It’s the 26th of January and and here are the top stories of this week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram Temple on Monday. The sculpted Ram Lalla idol, crafted by Arun Yogiraj, was unveiled during the ceremony. Over 8,000 invitees attended the event, including prominent celebrities such as actors, sportspersons, industrialists, etc. Ayodhya witnessed a massive influx of devotees, that resulted in a stampede-like situation, a day after the consecration of the temple.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh’s car was allegedly attacked and media persons accompanying the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra “manhandled” by miscreants in Assam’s Sonitpur on Sunday. Meanwhile the Assam Police registered an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders on Tuesday after a scuffle broke out between people taking part in the Yatra and the local cops when the yatra tried to enter Guwahati city that day. This week, the yatra reached West Bengal.

In a jolt to the INDIA bloc ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday announced that the Aam Aadmi Party will not stitch up an alliance with Congress in the state. Mann’s declaration came as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said the TMC is not in any discussion with the Congress, and that her party would contest by itself in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state.

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Bharat Ratna posthumously to two-time Bihar chief minister and socialist icon Karpoori Thakur on Tuesday. Often remembered as the “voice of the oppressed and the downtrodden”, Thakur served as the chief minister of Bihar from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979. Also called ‘jannayak’, he is widely considered as the pioneer of OBC and EBC reservations in the country.

As President Droupadi Murmu addressed the nation on the eve of the 75th Republic Day on Thursday, she said this year of the Republic is “truly a historic milestone in the journey of the nation in many ways”. Calling the time India is seeing currently as one of an "epochal transformation" with the golden opportunity to soar to new heights, President Droupadi Murmu said the nation is in the early years of Amrit Kaal. Speaking of Republic Day, French President Emmaunel Macron is the chief guest for this year's Republic Day event. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday for dinner at Jaipur’s Taj Rambagh Palace where they held discussions on bilateral and global issues of concern and interest.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.