Morning Brief: Jaitley Given Charge Of Defence Ministry; Cash Withdrawal Limits Lifted; Fed Rate Hike On Cards?

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

Jaitley Given Charge Of Defence Ministry: With Manohar Parrikar headed to Goa as the next Chief Minister, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will take over as the country's Defence Minister. Rashtrapati Bhavan said President Pranab Mukherjee had accepted Parrikar's resignation with immediate effect. "Further as advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Arun Jaitley shall be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Defence, in addition to his existing portfolios." Jaitley will formally assume charge on Tuesday morning.

Cash Withdrawal Limits Lifted: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday lifted all restrictions on cash withdrawals from savings bank accounts imposed on 8 November 2016. The RBI move has come after almost four months since Prime Minister Narendra Modi first announced the withdrawal of high value notes. In a two-stage process, the weekly withdrawal limit per account had been raised to Rs 50,000, from Rs 24,000, with effect from 20 February, and all limits on ATM withdrawals were slated to cease from 13 March.

BJP Names Biren Singh As Manipur Chief Minister: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced the name of Nongthombam Biren Singh as the legislative party leader in Manipur. "It is a great challenge. The people have given the mandate for a change and I assure that our team under the leadership of Prime Minsister Narendra Modi will surely provide good governance," Singh said. This comes after the party produced a list of 32 MLAs with letters of support.

Hafiz Saeed’s Brother-In-Law To Head JuD: Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, the brother-in-law of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, has been given the charge to head the terror outfit after the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks of 2008 was placed under house arrest by the Pakistan government in January. He has also been put on the no-fly list. Makki, who has a $2 million bounty on his head, was JuD's second in command.

Pakistan Violates Ceasefire Third Time In 24 Hours: In yet another violation of the truce along the Line of Control (LoC) in the border district Poonch of the Jammu region, the Pakistani troops on Monday targeted the forward Indian posts along the LoC for the third time in the last 24 hours, forcing the authorities to suspend the Poonch-Rawalkote bus service and postpone examinations. Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said, "It is an old habit of Pakistan. It always resorts to unprovoked firing along the LoC whenever there is a festival."

Top Banks See Interest Rate Increase By Fed: Wall Street's top banks were unanimous on the view the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates at its policy meeting next week following a stronger-than-forecast February US payrolls report, a Reuters poll showed. Employers added 235,000 jobs last month, more than the 190,000 forecast among economists. The Fed previously raised rates by a quarter point, to 0.50-0.75 per cent, in December.

JNU Student Commits Suicide: A 27-year-old student of Jawaharlal Nehru University allegedly committed suicide due to depression in South Delhi’s Munirka area on Monday evening. While police said he was depressed over personal issues, his friends shared his Facebook post in which he had alleged discrimination in MPhil and PhD admissions. According to students, Muthukrishnan belonged to the Scheduled Caste and was an active member of the justice for Rohith Vemula movement. He was a native of Salem in Tamil Nadu.

Brexit A step Closer: Britain inched closer to leaving the European Union on Monday when Parliament stopped resisting and gave Prime Minister Theresa May the power to file for exit from the bloc. But in a blow to May's government, the prospect of Scotland's exit from the United Kingdom suddenly appeared nearer, too. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for a referendum on independence within two years to stop Scotland being dragged out of the EU against its will.

MUST READ OP-EDS

UP Rejects Minority Appeasement, Fake Secularism: The priority for the new government is clear. Peace and Justice dominates the agenda. Rule of Law should be enforced and Goonda Raj dismantled.

A tectonic shift: Overall, today the BJP is truly an all-India party having a pan-India presence, from north to south, east to west.

Getting Cashless 2.0: It is the next step to provide a government-issued digital currency to bring innovation, competition, better consumer protection, more open access, better systematic risk management and more regulatory transparency in the digital economy.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Dear Prime Minister, Please Turn Your Attention Towards Kerala: Every passing week there’s a new attack on the lives and properties of BJP and RSS members in Kerala. What does the BJP party high command intend to do about it?

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

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