Morning Brief: Punjab Boiling After SC Water Ruling; Modi-Abe In Key Talks; SP Rules Out UP Alliance

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

Political Crisis In Punjab After SC Ruling On Water Row: Supreme Court's ruling favouring Haryana on the contentious Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal issue has set political temperature soaring in Punjab, with the state Congress chief Amarinder Singh quitting as MP and party MLAs resigning en masse, as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal asserted "not a drop of water" will be allowed to be taken out of the state.

Modi-Abe In Key Talks: All eyes will be on whether India will accept a “nullification” or “termination” clause as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe prepare to discuss the conclusion of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement after their talks on Friday.

India Lashes Out At World Bank Over Indus Treaty Move: India slammed the World Bank over its decision to favour Pakistan in the dispute over the Indus Water Treaty. While India had asked for a neutral expert over Pakistan’s objections to the projects first, Pakistan appealed directly for a Court of Arbitration to be set up as it claims India has violated the 1960 treaty.

Parrikar Thinks It’s Time To Review Nuclear No First Use Policy: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday questioned India’s no first use policy on nuclear weapons but then said that “this is my thinking” and the nuclear doctrine “has not changed” under any government.

Mulayam Singh Yadav Rules Out Alliance: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Thursday, ruled out alliance with any other party. The declaration comes a day after he held a series of meetings with Congress political strategist Prashant Kishor and top leaders of Janata Dal United and Rashtriya Lok Dal in Delhi and Lucknow.

Huge Rush To Exchange Currency: Huge crowds gathered outside bank branches across India and trade remained sluggish on Thursday as the government scrambled to ease the transition from old currency to new. The banks will remain open through Saturday and Sunday. Sources said old notes still have not been pulled out from around a fourth of the two lakh ATMs across the country.

Pakistanis Fear Trump May Favour India: Pakistanis are wary after Donald Trump’s surprise win in US presidential election, and they fear he may accelerate what they see as a shift in American policy to favour India. To many Pakistanis, Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and business ties with India are signs that his administration could shift further towards New Delhi.

Dump Trump Petition On White House Website: In an irony of 'presidential proportions’, merely a day after Donald Trump's shock win in the US Presidential Elections 2016, an online petition has surfaced on the White House's website, seeking to prevent his accession to the Oval office.

Mallya Declared Absconder: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been declared an absconder by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court on Thursday. The Enforcement Directorate had moved the special court seeking for him to be declared an absconder so that they can start attaching his properties.

Israel President To Visit India: Further deepening the already close defence ties will be a major focus of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s eight-day trip to India beginning Monday during which both sides are also set to ink a number of deals to expand cooperation in areas of energy, agriculture and trade.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Will Black Be Back? Why Demonetisation Will Be Revolutionary In India’s Fight Against Corruption: Many of us grew up despising politicians for feathering their own nests, compromising on issues of national importance and dragging their feet on bold decisions. Against this backdrop, the demonetisation effort launched Tuesday night is a refreshing change.

Here Comes The Funny Tale Of Indian Rupee: For those who think Modi’s moves are an overreaction, 17th-century British statesman George Savile can be quoted, “Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but so that horses may not be stolen again.”

Improving Economic Prosperity Through Nation Branding: Like successful corporations, nations would benefit from creating effective nation branding campaigns to improve their brands.

Prohibition: Challenge Lies In Implementation: Nitish Kumar has a history of going back on many of his promises. A few years back, mining was banned in Bihar by his government but it has been allowed again now.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Is Demonetisation Worth It? Here’s How To Tell If The Costs Outweigh Benefits: A question that will always haunt us after the demonetisation is this: did it work? Was it worth the cost of printing Rs 12,000 crore of new currency, and the actual man-hours spent in implementing the scheme?

A Tale Of Two Rulers: Secular Lies About Tipu Sultan: While celebrating Tipu Sultan’s birthday in itself is not a problem, what irritates this writer is that people in large numbers claim Tipu to be a secular ruler. This is also an examination of the selective amnesia of our “progressive” historians.

Armed With A Winning Strategy, Jayant Sinha Vows To Make Air India Profitable Again: Sinha talks about how his plans to return loss-laden Air India to its former glory. His next pet project is Air Sewa, which is expected to change service standards in India’s aviation industry.

Let’s Chill: Trump Is A Symptom Of The US’s Deep Ills, Not The Illness Itself: Donald Trump was not elected for who he is as a person. He has been elected to pose the right question to the power elite, and one hopes he will do just that.

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

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