Morning Brief: All Praise For Start-Up Funding Push; Political Turmoil In Nagaland; Mosul Liberated

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

G20 Hails India For Start-Up Funding Push: The G20 has praised India for promoting ease of doing business, start-up funding and labour reforms, acknowledging steps being taken by the country for sustainable and inclusive growth as well as support to global economy. It also said India is facilitating external commercial borrowings by start-ups, as part of the efforts being taken by the G20 members this year for maintaining momentum on structural reforms and sustainable growth. In its Hamburg Action Plan, adopted at the G20 Summit of leaders from the world’s 20 largest economies, the group also noted that “in the financial sector, India is popularising a number of derivative instruments in exchanges or electronic trading platforms” as part of measures to enhance resilience of its economy.

Satellites To Keep An Eye On Delhi Land Encroachment: In a first, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has proposed to take help from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), an arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, to monitor the city’s open spaces through satellites. DDA estimates suggest it owns around 5,000 vacant acres in the city. But around 30 per cent of the land has been encroached upon. A pilot project to prevent encroachment and unauthorised constructions is likely to start soon in east Delhi. “Talks were held with the NRSC. They would give us a presentation later this month. The pilot project is expected to take off within the next two to three months,” said a senior official of the DDA.

Sikkim Standoff: Indian Army Not In A Mood To Give In: India is ready for a long haul in holding onto its position in Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction. A steady line of supplies is being maintained for the soldiers at the site, official sources said, signalling that Indian Army is not going to wilt under any pressure from China. Indian soldiers deployed in the disputed area have pitched in tents, in an indication that they are unlikely to retreat unless there was reciprocity from China’s army in ending the face-off at an altitude of around 10,000 feet in the Sikkim section. At the same time, they sounded confident of finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute, citing resolution of border skirmishes in the past through diplomacy.

Political Turmoil In Nagaland: Just over four months after he was removed from the chief minister’s post and replaced by Shurhozelie Liezietsu, former Nagaland chief minister T R Zeliang has claimed the support of 41 MLAs of the ruling Naga People’s Front-led alliance and asked Governor P B Acharya to invite him to form a new government. Liezietsu has hit back by dismissing four of his cabinet ministers and six parliamentary secretaries who have sided with Zeliang. Liezietsu, in his capacity as president of the front, has also suspended 10 legislators from the party’s primary membership.

Chinese Troops Can Enter Kashmir, Warns Expert: An analyst at a Chinese think tank said a third country’s army could enter Kashmir at Pakistan’s request, using the “same logic” the Indian Army used to stop the Chinese military from constructing a road in the Doklam area in the Sikkim sector on behalf of Bhutan. “Even if India were requested to defend Bhutan’s territory, this could only be limited to its established territory, not the disputed area,” China’s Global Times quoted director at the Centre for Indian Studies at China West Normal University, Long Xingchun, as saying. The Chinese state media have carried a barrage of critical articles on the Doklam standoff criticising India, but this was the first time Pakistan and Kashmir have been brought into the narrative.

Countering Radicalisation In J&K: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to set up a department in Jammu and Kashmir to counter radicalisation of youth. BJP spokesperson and Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation vice chairman Khalid Jehangir said he was surveying various de-radicalisation models operational in different countries and would soon submit a proposal on it to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. "Earlier there used to be a social welfare department, but now the government has to concentrate on radicalisation counselling," Jehangir said. The Singapore model of de-radicalisation and rehabilitation, he said, was one of the most viable models to follow for the state.

Jio Probing Date Breach: Telecom firm Jio said on Sunday it was probing a report on a website that sensitive details including mobile numbers and Aadhaar number of millions of its subscribers had been allegedly leaked on the internet. Tech website FoneArena said that customer data of nearly 120 million users had been leaked on an independent website named magicapk. The most recent entrant into India's competitive telecom space said that it had informed law enforcement agencies about the claims of the website and would follow up with "strict action".

Mosul Liberated: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi arrived in Mosul on Sunday and congratulated the armed forces for their “victory” over Islamic State after eight months of urban warfare, bringing an end to three years of jihadist rule in the city. The battle has left large parts of Mosul in ruins, killed thousands of civilians and displaced nearly one million people. The fall of Mosul brings hope and trepidation to the families of 39 Indian construction workers who were taken prisoner in the city in 2014. The relatives of the abductees are asking the Indian government to secure their return.

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

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