Morning Brief: New Surgical Strike Details Emerge; Rs 2,351 Crore Digital Literacy Push; The Great Wall Of America

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

How Indian Army Conducted Surgical Strike: New details have emerged of how surgical strikes were carried out by the Indian Army on terror launchpads deep inside Pakistani territory. The Army started planning the surgical strike soon after the Uri terror attack, but it was awaiting an amavasya (moon-less) night to execute the operation. One Colonel, five Majors, two Captains, one Subedar, two Naib Subedars, three Havildars, one Lance Naik and four Paratroopers of the 4th and 9th battalions of the Para Regiment took part in the surgical strike.

Rs 2,351 Crore Cleared For Digital Literacy Push: In what is expected to be one of the largest digital literacy programmes in the world, the Union Cabinet led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved Rs 2,351.38 crore for Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan to make six crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019. This is in line with the announcement made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2016-17.

RBI Raises Withdrawal Limits To Rs 50,000 From 20 February: The weekly withdrawal limit from savings account will be raised from Rs 24,000 to Rs 50,000 from 20 February, the Reserve Bank of India announced on Wednesday. It added that there will be no limit from 13 March onward. Meanwhile, the six-member Monetary Policy Committed chaired by governor Urjit Patel voted unanimously to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent and reverse repo rate at 5.75 per cent.

Governor Deliberately Delaying Swearing-In, Alleges Sasikala: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary V K Sasikala alleged on Wednesday that her swearing-in as chief minister was being deliberately delayed by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, whose visit to Chennai remains uncertain even three days after she became leader of the legislature party. On the other hand, caretaker Chief Minister O Panneerselvam ordered an inquiry into the death of his mentor J Jayalalithaa, intensifying a high-stakes revolt against Sasikala.

Modi Attacks Manmohan Singh With Raincoat Remark: Prime Minister Narendra Modi branded his predecessor Manmohan Singh as someone adept at "bathing with a raincoat on", a dig at Singh's alleged ability to avoid the taint of scams and controversies. Modi took on Singh, who had slammed demonetisation as "organised loot and legalised plunder", and said though Singh had been an insider in major economic decision-making for more than three decades, he had mastered the art of deflecting adverse comment.

Muslims Are Hindus By Nationality, Says RSS Chief: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said every person born in India is a Hindu. “Everyone born in the country is a Hindu – of these some are idol-worshipers and some are not. Even Muslims are Hindus by nationality, they are Muslims by faith only,” he said, and added that just as the English live in England, Americans in America and Germans in Germany, Hindus live in Hindustan.

Trump Blow For Indians: New Bill Aims To Cut Legal Immigrants: In a move that could adversely hit those aspiring to get a green card or permanent residency in the US, including a large number of Indians, two top US senators have proposed a legislation to cut the number of legal immigrants to the US by half within a decade. The bill, which has the support of Donald Trump administration, will hurt hundreds and thousands of Indian-Americans who are at present painfully waiting to get their green cards under employment-based categories.

May Wins Parliament Green Light For Brexit: British Prime Minister Theresa May won approval from parliament's lower chamber on Wednesday to trigger UK’s exit from the European Union. Lawmakers voted 494 to 122 in favour of legislation giving May the right to trigger Brexit, ending days of intense debate. The bill now needs the approval of the upper chamber, in which May does not have a majority, before it becomes law.

The Great Wall Of America: Designing Underway, Says US President: The US is in the process of designing the wall on its southern border with Mexico, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday. "The wall is getting designed right now. I wasn't kidding. I don't kid,” he said, and added the wall, a major poll promise, is essential to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drug pouring into the country from across the border.

MUST READ OP-EDS

RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee Delivers A Reasonably Pragmatic Policy: The RBI has now changed its stance from accommodative to neutral. The policy majorly corroborates into stability in rates, stability in growth and inflation, and stability in exchange rates.

Black Money, Red Herring: Politics is funded because political power provides an abundance of opportunity for rapacious aggrandisement of wealth, in a way no regular business does. Corruption can’t be solved by simply cleaning up poll funding. Problem lies elsewhere.

Is There Room For Republic? Republic TV is getting ready for launch in March-April with to top team at the channel is gradually being put in place. Whether Arnab Goswami 2.0 will enjoy the same success as before is anybody’s guess.

Public Participation In War Against Corruption: Corruption is a consequence of individual greed. Unless it is addressed adequately by spiritual, emotional, and legislative means, taming corruption shall remain a distant dream.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Study Of Hindu Culture: The Misplaced Theories Of Western Indologists: Dr Parpola’s scholarship is subsumed by his attachment to the Aryan migration/invasion framework and his selective politicking with India’s own establishment historians of the old school.

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

SUBSCRIBE NOW: The January issue of our magazine is out now. As we welcome 2017, Swarajya asked a range of experts to draw up their wishlists – 2017 Wishlists. Get a copy home and enjoy reading Swarajya in print. Subscribe here to start receiving your copies for just Rs 349.

Swarajya Apps: Enjoy reading this morning brief and all articles from Swarajya on your mobile. Download our Android and iOS Apps.