This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 9th of February and and here are the top stories of this week.

The Union Government of India tabled a white paper on the Indian economy in Parliament on Thursday. The 59-page ‘White Paper on the Indian Economy’ said when the Modi government assumed office in 2014, the economy was in a “fragile state”. It stated strained public finances, corruption, double-digit inflation, ailing banking sector following excessive lending during the boom phase and policy uncertainty marred India’s business climate and dented its image under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government during FY04-FY14.

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Uttarakhand, Bill 2024, which seeks to “govern and regulate the laws related to marriage and divorce, successions, live-in relationships, and matters related thereto” was passed in the Assembly on Wednesday following a two-day discussion. The Bill will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent after which it will become a law. Uttarakhand is now poised to become the first state to get a common law on marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance for all citizens, irrespective of their religion.

A day after it recognised the faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Election Commission on Wednesday allotted the group led by NCP founder Sharad Pawar the name of “Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar” for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra. The NCP split in the party came to light on 2nd of July 2023, when Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s nephew, joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra along with eight MLAs

In other news, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit out at the Centre Thursday, saying that it “feels like the Union government has declared war on the opposition party-ruled governments.” The CM was speaking at a protest at Jantar Mantar called by Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan against the Centre’s alleged discrimination against states. The Kerala government has alleged that the fiscal policies of the BJP -led government are financially stifling the state, a day after the Karnataka government staged a 'Chalo Delhi' protest at the same venue.

Hamas has proposed a ceasefire plan that would quiet the guns in Gaza for four-and-a-half months leading to an end to the war, in response to a proposal sent last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators and backed by the United States and Israel. According to the Hamas counterproposal, all Israeli women hostages, males under 19, the elderly and sick would be released during the first 45-day phase in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails.

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