Morning Brief: Modi Vows To End Gundaraj In UP; Cyclone Vardah Alert; GST May Be Delayed

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

Modi Vows To End Gundaraj In UP: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will end lawlessness in Uttar Pradesh if elected to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. “UP wants to break free of the gundaraj. If UP needs to progress, supporters of gundagardi will have to leave. The BJP will do that,” he said.

Pakistan Will Break Into 10 Parts, Warns Rajnath Singh: Home Minister Rajnath Singh slammed Pakistan for its ceasefire violations and warned that it will break into 10 parts if it persists with its current policy, while adding that the Indian army will give befitting reply to Pakistan's unprovoked violations. “Pakistan is conspiring to divide India on religious lines but it won't succeed. India can't be divided again on religious lines," he said.

Cyclone Vardah Alert For Tamil Nadu And Andhra Pradesh: Cyclonic storm Vardah is likely to make a landfall between Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore and Tamil Nadu’s Chennai by Monday afternoon and cause heavy rainfall in the region. The Eastern Naval Command is all set to carry out relief operations, the Indian Navy said.

Tata Sons And Cyrus Mistry Row Escalates: Tata Sons on Sunday charged Cyrus Mistry of misleading the selection committee to be appointed as chairman and using free-hand given to him to weaken management structures. Mistry on the other hand accused Vijay Singh, a nominee director on the Tata Sons board, of cooking up theories "to defend his role in the conspiracy" hatched by Ratan Tata to sack him. Mistry also linked Singh to the AgustaWestland deal. “To connect me with AgustaWestland is slanderous and malicious,” Singh said.

GST Rollout May Be Delayed: A delay in the rollout of a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) appeared imminent on Sunday as a council deciding on its implementation didn’t reach a consensus. While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley did not categorically say that the 1 April target date would be missed, states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu said that GST could be rolled out only from September.

Government Vows Five Crore Jobs By 2022: Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said on Sunday that the government would create five crore jobs in the country by 2022. He was speaking at the inauguration of a jobs fair in Hyderabad.

Top 50: India’s New Target In Ease Of Doing Business Ranking: India is stepping up efforts to make significant gains in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking next year. This move comes after an insignificant one-position rise this year. India is aiming for a big leap of 80 spots next year, up from a ranking of 130 out of 190 countries, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said.

CBI May Question Manmohan Singh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to question former prime minister Manmohan Singh in AgustaWestland case, said a report. Along with him, the CBI may also question former principal secretary T K A Nair, former national security adviser MK Narayanan, former CBI director Ranjit Sinha and former special director Salim Ali. This follows the arrest of former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi in connection with the case.

India May Impose Import Duty On Cloth From China: The government is looking at imposing a “dumping duty” on cloth that comes from China, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani said. Ensuring the workers about reviving the sector, the minister said that the government was working on a policy to limit the flow of cheap cloth into India.

New Push To End Child Labour: President Pranab Mukherjee flagged off '100 Million for 100 Million Campaign' to end child labour, child slavery and violence against children to mark his 81st birthday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The campaign, organised by Satyarthi Children's Foundation, saw the participation of 5,000 children in the event.

Pakistan Army Chief Removes ISI Boss: As part of a major reshuffle, Pakistan’s new army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday removed the head of the country’s spy agency ISI and made several other significant changes in the army’s top brass. Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar was named new director-general of ISI, replacing Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Brothers In Arms: There Is Progress In India-US Defence Procurement: Between India’s old American fears and the US’s suspicious arms control and industry protectionist lobbies, both countries found this ‘bridging solution’ in the form of this unknown status of a Major Defence Partner.

Investors Would Evaluate This Interplay Of Transparency, Accountability And Governance While Deciding Largely Illiquid Investments: India cannot afford to miss this opportunity. Given the rapidly changing global trends, getting the timing right is crucial.

We Fall, Get Up And March Forward: Twenty-four years after the Babri Masjid demolition, apprehensions about the country’s unity have proved to be unfounded. The good news is that the youth of the 21st century have braced themselves for every new challenge that lies ahead. They don’t have time for such talk.

The Fungibility Of Black Money: The successful laundering of black money is a revelation on not just the consummate skills of criminals but also on how endemic corruption is – something that is crippling India.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

India’s Digital Push Is A Momentous Mass Behavioural Change In Indian History: The cash-crunch crisis presents a window of opportunity for India to leapfrog towards a more digital and less cash economy.

History Of Food In India: Even With It’s Lapses, Taylor Sen’s Book Is A Formidable Achievement: Taylor Sen’s book does pack quite a punch even for things one deems to know well, and is full of anecdotes that make even a simple lassi sound like the best elixir of the world.

Loose Cannons, Generals And US Foreign Policy In The Trump Era: Trump seems to be hiring generals in key advisory roles. While its impact on US policy is debatable, what’s common to his picks is that they all disagree with President Obama on his policies.

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

SUBSCRIBE NOW: The December issue of our magazine is out now. The cover story focuses on how Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a huge economic and political risk – Demonetisation: The Great Gamble. 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.