Morning Brief: India-UAE Slam Pakistan On Terror; Cleanliness Audit For Trains; India Named Sixth Most Powerful Country

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

India-UAE Slam Pakistan Over Terrorism: India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday “condemned efforts, including by states, to use religion to justify, sustain and sponsor terrorism against other countries”, sending a strong message to Pakistan. The two countries also deplored such efforts, pointing out the responsibility of all states to control the activities of the so-called ‘non-state actors’.

Eleven Soldiers Among 15 Killed In Avalanches In J&K: On a single day, four avalanches claimed the lives of 15 people – 11 soldiers and four civilians – in Jammu and Kashmir. Three of them took place in the high altitude area of Gurez, and one in Sonmarg. The bodies have been recovered, but many more soldiers are said to be missing in Gurez. The army said rescue operations are being hampered by strong winds and heavy snowfall.

Meghalaya Governor Quits Over Sexual Harassment Charges: Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan resigned from his post on Thursday following allegations of molestation and a letter by Raj Bhavan employees to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his removal. The letter also said the accusations were backed by evidence, which could be supplied if need be.

Indian-American Entrepreneur Sells Firm To Cisco For $3.7 Billion: Indian-American entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal has agreed to sell his application intelligence venture AppDynamics to Cisco Systems for a whopping $3.7 billion (Rs 25,150 crore). The announcement has come a day before AppDynamics was to launch its initial public offer, which valued the company at $2 billion.

Cleanliness Audit For Indian Trains: The Indian Railways is planning to launch an audit of all major trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi and express trains in a bid to clean up the public utility service. “Cleanliness in trains of different categories (Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Mail/Express and Day trains) will be audited similar to station audits. The grading should be published and would form the basis for evaluation of zonal railways performance,” said officials.

India Named Sixth Most Powerful Country In The World: India is ranked at the sixth position in a list of eight great powers for the year 2017 by a leading American foreign policy magazine. The American Interest list is topped by the US, whereas China and Japan are tied at the second position. Russia (fourth) and Germany (fifth) are the other two countries ahead of India. Iran is ranked seventh and Israel is on the eighth spot.

Proposed Tamil Nadu Ban: Coca-Cola And PepsiCo Face Rs 1,400 Crore Blow: A decision by a section of Tamil Nadu traders not to sell Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products starting 1 March is likely to cost Rs 1,400 crore in annual sales to the two US beverages giants. Industry sources said that if the traders' ban includes food products such as chips, salty snacks and oats sold by PepsiCo, the loss would be significantly higher.

Shiv Sena-BJP Alliance Breaks Ahead Of BMC Polls: The Shiv Sena's 20-year-old pre-poll tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India's richest civic body has ended. The Sena will contest the 21 February Mumbai civic elections on its own, party president Uddhav Thackeray declared. The Sena has ruled the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) since 1997 in alliance with the BJP, which has played junior partner.

Border Wall: Mexico’s President Cancels Trump Meeting: In a sign of deepening rift, Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday scrapped a planned summit with his American counterpart Donald Trump in the face of his insistent tweets demanding Mexico pay for a border wall. Nieto, responding to a Twitter message from Trump saying it would be better for him not to come to the meeting if Mexico would not pay for the wall, said in his own tweet that he would not attend and had informed the White House of this.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Army In The Age Of Social Media: The system must be made more responsive and compassionate. Troops must be convinced that their genuine concerns would be attended to in a fair and time-bound manner.

Look At Budget Algebra, Not Math: Despite the obvious practical difficulties and persistent criticism, it is amply clear that demonetisation has found popular support. Policy evolution may break into a sprint. If so, India will be well on the way to the economic future of our dreams.

Budget Should Focus On Private Investments: The budget this year would have to address any residual fallout of demonetisation for consumption. One of the major factors that has been holding back the revival of private capital formation is the miserable state of the Indian banking system

China’s Debt-Trap Diplomacy: China is taking steps to ensure that countries will not be able to escape their debts. Countries that are not yet ensnared in China’s debt trap should take note – and take whatever steps they can to avoid it

Zero Sum Game Is Up: If all of Pakistan’s friends are befriending India, perhaps it is time to give up the mantra of “permanent enemy” and come to terms with new regional and global realities.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Pride Of India: Why The Republic Day Parade Must March On: The Republic Day celebrations are India’s pride and the current format is outstanding until someone can prove that a better option with bang for the buck exists, and can be executed.

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

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