Morning Brief: Inflation Under Control, Says Modi; Girls Abused At Kerala Orphanage; CIA Can Track WhatsApp Messages: WikiLeaks

Good Morning, Swarajya Readers! Here's What You Need To Know Today.

Inflation Under Control, Says Modi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government has been able to tame inflation which had gone out of control before 2014. Speaking at an industry meeting, he said despite demonetisation the gross domestic product figures of the last quarter have proved that the country is on the path of “fast-paced development”. He added that more efforts are on to bring inflation further down.

Ujjain Train Blast First IS Terror Attack In India: A module radicalised by Islamic State (IS) triggered a low-intensity blast in a train on Tuesday in Madhya Pradesh, injuring 10 passengers. The blast on the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train, the first instance of a terror strike by an IS module in India, spurred the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh police to launch coordinated operations, which resulted in the arrested of eight members of the group. Meanwhile, UP's anti-terror squad managed to kill Saifulllah after an almost 12-hour siege in Lucknow.

Zakir Naik Ordered To Appear Before NIA: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday issued a notice to controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik ordering him to appear before the investigative agency at its headquarters in New Delhi on 14 March. Naik, believed to be staying in Saudi Arabia to evade arrest, was booked for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion. The Enforcement Directorate is looking into the charges of alleged laundering of illegal funds by Naik.

SBI Launches Work From Home Facility For Staff: State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, on Tuesday launched a new facility to enable its employees to ‘work from home’. It will use mobile computing technologies and maintain continuous control over all the enabled devices centrally to manage and secure the data and applications on the mobile devices. The bank said this initiative is expected to benefit employees, especially women.

Aadhaar A Must For Free LPG Connection: Families living below poverty line (BPL) will need to enrol for Aadhaar by 31 May to benefit from the free LPG connection scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The move comes after the government has made Aadhaar mandatory for nearly three dozen welfare schemes such as the mid-day meal scheme over the past one week.

Girls Abused In Kerala Muslim Orphanage: Seven minor girls at a Muslim orphanage in Wayanad, Kerala, have reportedly been sexually abused over the course of the last four months, it was reported on Tuesday. Six people have been arrested by the Kerala police over the incident. The latest incident comes on the heels of the arrest of a priest in the district for raping a minor girl who later gave birth to baby in a private hospital.

Tata Motors In Volkswagen Partnership Talks: Tata Motors is in talks with the world’s largest auto maker, Volkswagen, for a partnership. “I can only confirm that we are in talks but nothing to be announced yet,” Tata Motors chief executive officer and managing director Guenter Butschek said. An alliance with the German carmaker will give Tata Motors access to advanced technology and reduce development and production costs for both partners.

China Open To Designating Masood Azhar As Terrorist: China will soon take a call on India’s demand to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as global terrorist by the United Nations as it is investigating his terror activities, a senior functionary of Communist Party of China said on Tuesday. “We are considering it… We will take a decision on it soon,” he said, asserting that all forms of terror must be eliminated.

CIA Can Track WhatsApp Messages, Says WikiLeaks: Hackers of America’s Central Intelligence Agency have developed tools to break into devices from iPhones and Android phones to Samsung “smart” televisions to monitor conversations and messages, according to WikiLeaks. It also reveals that the agency has the ability to break into devices and intercept messages before they can be encrypted by applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and Confide.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Headline Versus Core CPI Inflation In India: In the RBI’s newly adopted flexible inflation-targeting framework, the headline CPI inflation measure is being used as the target rate of inflation as it reflects the prices of essential consumption goods.

Building Grass-Roots Student Innovators: A programme to create tinkering labs is an attempt to augment current systems of education with a vision to nurture a million children to become neoteric innovators.

Uber Should Worry About The Distressed Debt Behind Indian Expansion: For a little more than two years, Uber has encouraged people who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for bank credit to take loans from commercial or shadow banks to buy cars for the sole purpose of offering Uber rides.

Not Even Grass Can Grow At WTO Without US’s Nod: The US has launched more than 100 trade disputes against other WTO members while facing more than 125 disputes against its allegedly unfair trade practices. It gets the distinction for not adopting the WTO’s rulings and thereby, causing a ‘systemic’ tsunami with ‘chilling’ effects

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

A Hindu Demographic Debacle In Kerala Is Unfolding Before Our Very Eyes: The slow diminution of Hindus has been going on for two centuries. If Hindus do not sit up and take notice even now, the Hindu majority will soon be gone – assuming that is not already the case.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!

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