Morning Brief: Rebel Panneerselvam Sacked; Demonetisation Timing Defended; Highways Target Doubled

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

Sasikala Removes Rebel Panneerselvam: Acting Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam has been removed from the post of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) treasurer, minutes after he launched a rebellion against party general secretary V K Sasikala. Dindigul Sreenivasan has been appointed in his place. Panneerselvam said he was forced to resign and clear the way for Sasikala. “DMK is behind Panneerselvam. All our MLAs are together like one family. So, there is no problem,” said Sasikala.

Modi Says Timing Of Demonetisation Was Perfect: During a debate in the Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at critics, mounting a strong defence of his government’s decisions in the last year, from demonetisation to surgical strikes across the Line of Control. “It was the best time for demonetisation as the economy was strong. Had the economy been weak, then we could not have done it successfully,” he claimed.

Government Detects Rs 16,200 Crore Black Money Abroad: More than Rs 16,200 crore in black money has been detected by the Narendra Modi government after investigations on global leaks about Indians stashing funds abroad, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. "The government is, however, committed to taking all possible measures to bring back black money stashed by Indians in foreign countries," he said.

Indian Economy Expected To Overtake US By 2040, Says Report: India, currently the fastest growing world economy, is expected to surpass the US to become the world's second largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. According to a PwC report China has already overtaken the US to become the world's largest economy in PPP terms, while India currently stands in the third place and is projected to overtake the US by 2040 in PPP terms.

US Tweaks Export Control Laws To Benefit India: In a development that highlights the deepening ties between the US and India, the US government has tweaked its export control laws to facilitate smoother transfer of technology and arms to India. This will cover all types of weaponry and related technology, excluding only those systems and equipment related to weapons of mass destruction.

SC Launches Contempt Case Against Sitting High Court Judge: The Supreme Court decided to initiate contempt proceedings against a sitting Calcutta high court judge who in recent months hit out at his colleagues with allegations of corruptions. Justice C S Karnan has alleged that he is being persecuted for being a Dalit. The judge has already challenged the SC collegium recommendation to transfer him out of his parent high court – Madras – to Calcutta. He will appear in the top court on 13 February to argue the case himself.

Holding Old Notes Is Now Punishable By Law: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill which makes holding of more than 10 old notes of Rs 500/1,000 denomination punishable with a minimum fine of Rs 10,000, with the government saying the aim was to check parallel economy using the scrapped notes. Piloting the bill, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it will extinguish the government’s liability towards scrapped notes and also eliminate the possibility of their being used as parallel currency.

Government Doubles Highways Target: In the next financial year, the government has set a target of constructing 15,000 km of highways. The road transport and highways ministry expects to construct a record 8,000 km of highways this fiscal, even as that will be 2,000 km short of the target. Officials said 5,000 km of highways were constructed between April and December 2016, at 18.5 km a day on average.

Court Orders Winding Up Of Mallya’s UB Holdings: In a major blow to Vijay Mallya, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday ordered the winding up of United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL) for recovering dues payable by the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Justice Vineet Kothari said the assets of the respondent company cannot be left under the control of UBHL and could be handed over to official liquidator to achieve the winding up process as per the law.

China Blocks Bid To Blacklist Masood Azhar, Yet Again: At the behest of Pakistan, China has, once again, put a “technical hold” on a proposal at the United Nations to designate Masood Azhar, the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group, as a global terrorist. Unlike last year, what is different this time is that, while India was one of the co-sponsors of the resolution last time, this year, the US, the UK and France took the lead.

Big Brother Is Winning: The allure of convenience, the clamour for a punitive accountability, an impatience with processes and checks and balances are empowering the state beyond measure.

Will GST Exacerbate India’s Income Divergence? Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wants to roll out the Goods and Services Tax on 1 June. Growing income inequality among India’s large states should be disconcerting especially in a complex federal polity such as India.

Tech Is Fighting Travel Ban In Order To Survive: Immigrant creativity is not just a resource for today; it’s what has created America’s innovation edge, and what will maintain it in the future.

The Budget Sidesteps Geostrategic Risks: The geo-economic strategy, drawing from Narendra Modi’s repurposed foreign policy, betrays an excessive strategic reliance on select developed countries which could be a risk.

Colluding Algorithms: In the new world of colluding algorithms, the concepts of “agreement” and “intent” that we used to rely upon to define anti-competitive behaviour will have little relevance.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

BMC Election 2017: Come 23 February, Mumbai Will Be A Saffron City: The BJP and the Shiv Sena are set to turn in their best performance in the BMC polls since 1997, and the Congress is set for its worst performance.

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

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