Morning Brief: No Digital Transaction Fee At Petrol Pumps: Centre; CBSE Postpones Board Exams; Jallikattu Ordinance Sought

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

No Digital Transaction Fees For Customers At Petrol Pumps, Says Centre: The Centre has stepped in to assure that neither the customers nor petrol pumps will bear additional charges on digital transactions. This comes after petrol pumps across the nation deciding to postpone till 13 January their protest against the banks’ decision to levy extra charge on card transactions. Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said negotiations are underway and the issue will be resolved soon.

CBSE Postpones Board Exams: In view of the state elections in five states – Punjab, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct the exams for Class X and XII from March 9. The CBSE exams for Class X will continue till 10 April, while Class XII will end on 29 April.

Modi Launches India's First International Exchange: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated India's first international exchange – India INX – at the International Financial Service Centre of GIFT City in Gandhinagar. A subsidiary of Bombay Stock Exchange, India INX is one of the world's most advanced technology platforms with a turn-around-time of four micro seconds. It will operate 22 hours a day, allowing international investors and NRIs to trade.

Cisco Chief Says Demonetisation Only A ‘Bump’, India To Grow At 7 Per Cent: Describing demonetisation as only a ‘bump’, Cisco executive chairman John Chambers on Monday said India is well-positioned to maintain gross domestic product growth rate of over 7 per cent for the next few years and it should be a "top ally" for the US in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mulayam Backs Akhilesh For UP CM: Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday asserted that Akhilesh Yadav is the face of the party for the next chief minister of the state, adding that the party stands united, in a move signifying a possible end to the prolonged family feud once and for all. The senior Yadav said the party will soon set out to campaign across the state as one.

I-T Department Says Cooperative Banks Used Note Ban To Launder Crores: Raising concerns about the working of cooperative banks across the country, the Income Tax Department claimed they used demonetisation to make a quick buck and indulge in money laundering worth several crores. According to an analysis report of the department, tax sleuths found these banks were involved in generating and routing of black money at an "unprecedented" scale after 8 November.

Tamil Nadu Seeks Jallikattu Ordinance: Tamil Nadu government urged the Centre on Monday to consider promulgating an ordinance for enabling the holding of the bull-taming sport Jallikattu next week in the state. Chief Minister O Panneerselvam wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying “considering the groundswell for the conduct of Jallikattu, this is an issue on which the government of India must act with maximum despatch”.

Scorpene-Class Submarine Set For Launch: The second Kalvari-class submarine, Khanderi, will be launched at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai on 12 January. The state-of-the-art features of the Scorpene-class submarine includes superior stealth and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons.

Airport Guards On Alert: Airport guards were put on high alert to watch out for those in military and police uniforms as militants could use the camouflage to sneak into terminals before Republic Day. The Bureau for Civil Aviation Security issued an advisory on 28 December, asking security staff to be more vigilant about people in uniform entering airports.

BJP Retains Top Position In Maharashtra Civic Polls: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday won 100 seats in the final phase of municipal council polls in Maharashtra for 244 seats and secured seven posts of municipal council president. This takes the ruling party’s tally at the end of fourth and final phase of elections to 1,190 councillors and 71 municipal council presidents, retaining overall top position.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Sequencing Economic Disruption: The Prime Minister has a few decisions to make in the new year. If he is determined to disrupt and if incrementalism is deemed inadequate for India’s development tasks – he has to disrupt the banking system and the tax system.

Making Our Cities Safe For Women: When women and girls, around the country, are breaking their silence, it is a shame that some people in public office are attempting to silence them. As a country, we need to rise up to this challenge of gender equality and justice.

Good, Brand And Ugly: The bigger the brand’s reputation, the greater will be consumer expectations. It is the consumer-brand relationship that determines brand equity.

Donald Trump’s Team And Its India Policy: Like any new administration, it will take time to get settled. But in each area, and with each personality, there are clear opportunities for India to seize.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

How Data Analytics Can Help Modi Government Catch The Demons Of DeMo: Here’s how the government can leverage data analytics capabilities to track down those who may have tried to game the banking system.

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

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