Morning Brief: High-Stakes Doklam Row Ends; Housing Boost For Urban Poor; Costly US Nuclear Overhaul

Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news and views brief for today.

High-Stakes Doklam Row Ends: More than two-and-half months after the beginning of a high-stakes standoff between their troops at Doklam, India and China on Monday decided to de-escalate and withdraw their soldiers from the site at the tri-junction with Bhutan. This follows 10 weeks of sustained negotiations between top-level Indian and Chinese officials. By the end of the day, as Indian troops withdrew from their post at Doka La, Chinese troops and their road-building equipment too were removed from the face-off site. The standoff has been on since 16 June when Indian troops physically stopped the Chinese People’s Liberation Army from building a road on Doklam plateau. The disengagement comes a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to travel to Xiamen in China for the BRICS summit from 3-5 September.

New Boeing Offer To Set Up Production Facility For Fighter Jets In India: American defence major Boeing on Monday offered to set up a manufacturing facility in India for production of its F/A 18 Super Hornet aircraft, if the company gets contracts for their supply. “We are talking about creating a next generation facility in India. We think the Super Hornet is the most advanced airplane that India could manufacture which will lead to the next generation of aeroplane that India will design and build here,” Boeing’s F/A 18 programme vice-president Dan Gillian said. He said Boeing was also looking at requirements of the Indian Air Force to replace its ageing MiG 21 jets. In January, the Indian Navy had launched a request for information to procure 57 multi-role combat aircraft for its carrier.

Financial Year Unlikely To Change; Date Of Budget Could Be Further Advanced: The government will not change the financial year to January-December as it was planning to, though the prospects of advancing the date of Budget presentation by a fortnight or so is under consideration. The government this year presented the budget on 1 February, departing from the British-era practice of announcing budget proposals on 28 February. "For now (2018-19), changing the financial year appears unlikely," a senior government official told Economic Times, adding that shifting this year would mean the budget would have to be presented by end of October or early November, which is not possible. India currently follows April-March financial year.

Start-Ups Can Now Raise 100 Per Cent FDI: Start-ups can now raise 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) from overseas venture capitals registered with SEBI, with the government including them for the first time in a consolidated FDI policy released on Monday. “A SEBI registered Foreign Venture Capital Investor may contribute up to 100 per cent of the capital of an Indian company engaged in any activity mentioned in Schedule 6 of Notification No. FEMA 20/2000, including start-ups irrespective of the sector in which it is engaged, under the automatic route,” the policy document said. Start-ups, moreover, can issue convertible notes to residents outside India subject to certain conditions. During the last one year, the government has liberalised FDI policy in over a dozen sectors including defence, civil aviation, construction and development, private security agencies and news broadcasting.

Government Approves 2.17 Lakh New Houses For Urban Poor: The Union government has given the green light for building more than 2.17 lakh new houses for urban poor in six states taking the total tally to about 26 lakh under its housing scheme. With this, the total houses sanctioned under the scheme increased to over 26.13 lakh with a total investment of around Rs 1.39 lakh crore. Central assistance of Rs 40,597 crore has been approved for construction of these houses. The government said in the latest sanctions, Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has given the go-ahead to over 1.20 lakh more houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) to Andhra Pradesh, followed by Uttar Pradesh 41,173, Assam 16,700, Gujarat 15,222, Jharkhand 14,017 and Maharashtra 9,894.

Hurricane Harvey: 200 Marooned Indian Students Evacuated: US authorities have said that all 200 Indian students stranded at the University of Houston following "catastrophic" flooding after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas were being evacuated to safer places. They were being provided food and other supplies by the Indian-American community in the area. India's Consul-General in Houston Anupam Ray has been in touch with the students and monitoring the evacuation process. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj raised the alarm and said the students were stranded and surrounded by ‘neck-deep’ water as Hurricane Harvey continued to flood Houston. Swaraj said efforts were being made to supply these students with food and other basic amenities but the US Coast Guard declined permission as boats were required for services in rescue operations.

Trump Pushing Ahead With Costly Nuclear Overhaul: The United States is forging ahead on a costly nuclear overhaul as President Donald Trump hinted last week, “vast amounts” are being spent on “our nuclear arsenal and missile defence”. Last week, the air force announced major new contracts for an overhaul of the US nuclear force: $1.8 billion for initial development of a highly stealthy nuclear cruise missile, and nearly $700 million to begin replacing the 40-year-old Minuteman missiles in silos across the US. Both programmes, which were developed during the president Barack Obama years, form the initial steps in a broader remaking of the nuclear arsenal that was estimated to cost $1 trillion or more during Obama’s tenure.

North Korea Fires A Ballistic Missile Over Japan: In an aggressive test-flight, North Korea fired a ballistic missile from its capital Pyongyang that flew over Japan before plunging into the northern Pacific Ocean, officials said early today. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missile travelled around 2,700 kilometres (km) and reached a maximum height of 550 km as it flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The JCS said it is analysing the launch with the United States and also that South Korea's military has strengthened its monitoring and preparation in case of further actions from North Korea. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called this an “outrageous act” that can cause “serious and grave threat and greatly damages the regional peace and security”.

MUST READ OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

The Admirable Success Of The Jan-Dhan Yojana: While the programme has made significant headway towards genuine financial inclusion, it is clear that improving policy communication, widening and deepening progress in low-income states, and ironing out the kinks in the bank-agent model will be crucial if these hard-fought gains are to prove sustainable.

The Spectre Of Deflation: While the Economic Survey has been cautious in calling out an impending crisis in the economy, it does raise questions on the sustainability of economic growth given the spectre of deflation looming large.

Move Over BPOs, It’s Time For WPOs: WhatsApp Process Outsourcing firms would be the next logical evolution of SMS and email marketing agencies. In the last three years WhatsApp’s user base has quadrupled from 50 million to 200 million subscribers.

A New Chapter In The US’s South Asia Policy? Pakistan has leveraged its centrality in America’s Afghanistan policy for decades now. Donald Trump is now arguing that India should be viewed as part of a solution to the Afghan imbroglio.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Why People Are Willing To Die For Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh: The Dalits and the Shudra communities of Haryana and Punjab find themselves marginalised across society, politics and the economy. Organisations like the Dera Sacha Sauda, or the Satlok Ashram of Rampal, provide solace and dignity to such groups.

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

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