Morning Brief: Sakshi Malik Wins First Medal At Rio; Bangladesh Backs India On Baluchistan; CISCO Cuts 5000 Jobs

1ST MEDAL

The 23-year old wrestler from Rohtak, Haryana, Sakshi Malik has ended India’s medal drought at Rio Olympics. She defeated Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan 8-5 in the 58 kg category of women’s freestyle wrestling to win the bronze medal.

Malik became only the fourth woman athlete from India to win an Olympic medal. Weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari (2000, Sydney), boxer MC Mary Kom (2012, London) and shuttler Saina Nehwal (2012, London) are the other women players to have achieved the feat.

NOT ON PAK’S TERMS

India has accepted Pakistan’s invitation of holding talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries but has rejected its terms. Islamabad wanted to talk Kashmir. India has said that it is India’s internal matter where Pakistan has no locus standi.

India has instead suggested that since aspects related to cross-border terrorism are central to the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the discussions between the foreign secretaries be focused on them.

BD BACKS INDIA

Bangladesh has also come out in support of India’s stand on the Balochistan issue, saying it would soon make a policy declaration on Pakistan’s human rights abuses in Balochistan. Hasanul Haque Inu, the Minister of Information in the Sheikh Hasina government, compared the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 with the situation in Balochistan.

Mr Inu is a former leader of the Mukti Bahini, the guerrilla force that fought against Pakistan during 1971 war and is currently on a three-day visit to India where he is scheduled to meet a range of policy-makers, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

MASSIVE LAYOFF

The largest networking company in the world, CISCO will cut seven percent of its total global workforce which roughly translates to 5,500 people. The California-based corporation announced the cuts yesterday as part of a transition from its hardware roots into a software-centric business.

The company witnessed a 21 percent increase in net quarterly profits to $2.81bn. However, its revenue fell to $12.64bn from $12.84bn in the quarter to 30 July. But this is not the reason for pink slips. It said it was making the job cuts in response to the changes big businesses are making in how they operate and shift IT from clunky hardware to online cloud computing.

The Future Of Jobs: There Ain’t One. The Only Certainty Is Work-Preneurship

OUT OF CONTROL

Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that no one below 18 years of age can take part in human pyramids formed to celebrate Dahi-Handi custom during Janmashtami. It also capped the height of such pyramids at 20 feet. The festival is to be celebrated on 25 August.

The apex court noted that Kanhaiya stole butter but said he did not do acrobatics as children did during dahi handi, exposing them to injury. However, it seems, it is the highest court in the country which is doing acrobatics with justice by wasting its precious time on such trivial issues when crores of cases lie pending before the judiciary.

It should introspect, justice isn’t only about appointing more judges faster.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Dear CJI, Justice Isn’t Only About Appointing More Judges Faster: CJI TS Thakur has been spending a lot of his time jousting with the government on how judges should be appointed rather than focusing on how the judiciary can deliver speedier justice.

Power Cuts In A Time Of Surplus: To achieve 24x7 supply of power, states will have to show strong resolve to reduce AT&C losses, invest in infrastructure development, ensure efficient commercial operation of discoms, make timely tariff revisions, and reduce the cross-subsidization that’s impacting the competitiveness of the industry and services sectors.

An Experiment With Power: Prepaid electricity in Manipur reduces power theft, improves supply.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Modinomics, Not Cheap Oil, Is Behind Sharp Fall In Inflation: Many economic pundits have attributed the sharp fall in inflation in India in the last two years to falling global crude oil prices. However, a new IMF working paper shows that the economic policies of the NDA government, not the cheap oil, deserve the credit.

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

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