Your Thursday Morning Briefing - 10/03/2016

Good Morning, Swarajya readers.

Here’s what you need to know:

And the show goes on. The NGT cleared the 3-day World Culture Festival to be organised by Art of Living on the floodplains of the Yamuna but imposed a fine of Rs 5 crore as an interim compensation for the event’s impact on the environment. NGT also asked AoL to give an undertaking by tomorrow that enzymes will not be released into Yamuna river.

Rajya Sabha passes something, finally. The decks are now clear for the conversion of 106 rivers and creeks across India into transport waterways. The Rajya Sabha passed the National Waterways Bill 2015 unopposed. The Bill will now be sent for the President’s approval. Once it is a law, it can potentially provide an alternative form of transporting goods, which at present is dominated by road and rail, and open up economic opportunities to new regions.

Doing the same thing and expecting a different result. The BJP has decided to field Chandra Bose, grandnephew of Subhas Chandra Bose, against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls. The party has chosen a person who joined it barely two months ago, sidelining the state workers who toil hard on the ground. It seems the party hasn’t learnt its lessons from Delhi debacle.

Other Notables

Operation Cleanup. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has entered into a settlement with ex-employees who were allegedly exposed to toxic mercury vapour at its former thermometer factory in Kodaikanal. However, this settlement will only bring closure to one-half of the problem. The larger aspect of cleaning up the mercury contamination on the hills remains, with the Union Environment Ministry considering making standards more stringent than what the company has proposed for the ecologically sensitive site.

Leg-up for the BJP in Kerala. The party sewed up an alliance with Bharat Dharama Jana Sena (BDJS), the new party formed by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, a powerful organisation of the backward Ezhava community.The process of seat sharing and finalisation of the list of candidates will be completed in the next 10 days.

Op-eds you shouldn’t miss

Good Economics Is Good Politics: The qualitative stance in the Budget is praiseworthy: increase investment in the rural sector and infrastructure, particularly road construction, and hope that these relatively labour-intensive investments will have both a magnified effect on employment as well as output.

Aadhar Bill Strikes The Right Balance: The Bill must be assessed on three criteria: What is the purpose of the collected data? What privacy safeguards does it incorporate? Is the individual’s informed consent secured?

Four Corners Of A Good Deal: For India, a closer relationship with the U.S., Japan, and Australia should not only be seen in defence terms — it could help secure its energy supplies.

Swarajya Special

Mallya Case: Fight Against Crony Capitalism Begins But At Cost Of Rule Of Law: Indians should mark 9 March 2016 in their memory calendar, for it has huge significance for two ideas that should be dear to every liberal democrat: the fight against crony capitalism, and the fight to establish the rule of law.

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Have a great day ahead!