Morning Brief: US - India Military Pact Agreed, Good Rains This Year, SC And RBI Disagree On Defaulters List
Good Morning, Dear Readers
Here’s what you need to know today.
US - India Agree On Logisitics Agreement ‘In Principle’. If the agreement goes through India and the US will be able to access some of each others military bases for fuelling, repair and other purposes. The previous UPA administration had steadfastly refused to sign up for the logisitics sharing agreement, the NDA however appears to be quite bold in its engagement of the US - especially in defence and security issues.This agreement is a result of talks held during US defence secretary Ashton Carter’s second visit to India in less than a year.
There will be good rains this year. The met deparment has announcement that monsoons this year will be 106%, meaning there will be enough and more rainfall in most parts of the country. If the IMD’s predictions hold true it would be a welcome relief to the country which has faced two consecutive years of bad rainful and drought.
SC wants to reveal name of ‘big defaulters’. Despite the RBI’s repeated requests and warnings the SC justices hearing a PIL petition on bad bank loans asked what harm would ensue if the list of big defaulters owing Rs 500 crore to the banks were made public, RBI counsel and the solicitor general countered by citing legal restrictions.
Other notables
Tiger population in India rises to 2500. That is a far cry from just 300 tigers across India in 1972 when the union government had to launch project Tiger.Speaking at the third Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation, Union environment minister Prakash Javdekar said that in 2014 India had about 2,226 tigers. He also said the government has upped the budget for tiger preservation to Rs 380 crore from Rs 185 last year.
Rahul Gandhi continues disaster tourism. He visited Denoar garbage dumping grounds near Mumbai. Fires raging at the dumping yard caused massive smoke cover and dust across many parts of Mumbai recently. Rahul Gandhi made some snide remarks about the Swachch Bharat campain, but offered no solutions to the garbage dumping issue.
Op-eds You Shouldn’t MIss
Why banking in India will never be the same again. India needs more banks of different shapes, sizes and business models. The banking regulator is responding to this need
Court should let faith reform itself; intervene only when basic rights are abused. Should the court order the ordaining of women Catholic bishops, that men and women pray together in mosques or that Akshardham swamis welcome female presence? Except when basic temporal rights are violated, the courts should leave religious reform to evolve from within.
Dr Arvind Panagariya on Why has India held back from including electricity in the strategy for clean cooking? The convenience of electric cooking has led to its adoption as the preferred cooking energy in virtually all the developed economies of the world. With the largest share of population in the world that relies on LPG and zero reliance on electricity for cooking, India is an outlier.
Swarajya Special
India Has The Most Sophisticated Payments System In The World – And Six Men Made It Happen. Technology is changing the financial sector of the Indian economy at jet speed, thanks to the ubiquity of Jan Dhan bank accounts, the spread of mobile phones, and the Aadhaar unique ID.
IPL Will Use Zero Percent Of The Water That Sugarcane Does. The entire issue of moving the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket tournament out of the state of Maharashtra, in order to save water, is basically nonsense.
Here’s wishing you a great day ahead!
Keep visiting Swarajya for more updates and daily news-commentary.