Morning Brief: Election App Launched; Modi Reaches Out To China; Xi Jinping Defends Free Trade

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

Election App Suite Launched: The Election Commission of India is going high-tech with the launch of an app suite. Called ECI Apps, it will provide information on all aspects of election management, submitting complaints, finding nearest polling station, searching name in the voters list, list of candidates contesting elections and their details, affidavits, past elections date etc. On the counting day of all the five state elections, people can follow the trends and results on this app.

World Needs India’s Leadership In Countering Terror, Says US Envoy: India faces a “daunting challenge” from Pakistan-based terror groups, outgoing US Ambassador to New Delhi Richard Verma said, and added that the world needs India’s leadership in countering terrorism. The Barack Obama administration has recently delivered a “very tough” message to Pakistan asking it to dismantle safe havens of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Haqqani network operating from its soil, he said, hailing India’s efforts in fighting the menace of terrorism.

Note Ban: Urjit Patel To Appear Before Parliament Panel: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel, who will appear before the parliament’s standing committee on finance today, will face several questions from the members on demonetisation, the most pertinent being if the central bank's autonomy has been compromised. He is expected to brief the panel about demonetisation and its impact on the economy and the steps taken by the central bank to deal with the cash crunch.

Modi Slams Pakistan, Reaches Out To China: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Pakistan has to come forward and shun terrorism to ensure productive talks, stressing that India alone cannot walk the path of peace. At the second edition of Raisina Dialogue in Delhi, where he outlined India’s foreign policy, Modi took a strategic stand on China and said ties between the two Asian giants have immense economic opportunities.

Sindhu, Sakshi, Pichai And Nadella Shortlisted For Padma Awards: More than 150 eminent personalities shortlisted for this year’s Padma awards including Olympians P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Paralympian Deepa Malik, Google chief Sundar Pichai, Microsoft head Satya Nadella and Indian American governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina. Maratha strongman and Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar and Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi are among the politicians who made it to the coveted list.

Perform Or Perish: Modi Government Sacks Two IPS Officers: The Narendra Modi government has cracked the whip on ‘non-performing’ civil servants by ordering premature retirement of two Indian Police Service officers – Raj Kumar Dewangan of Chhattisgarh cadre and Mayank Sheel Chohan of Union Territories cadre. There were complaints against the two officers. The ministry handed them forced retirement with three month pay," a senior officer said.

Claiming Jayalalithaa’s Legacy: Former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar is likely to make her political debut next month. The 42-year-old political novice had hinted at a conspiracy surrounding Jayalalithaa’s death. Jayakumar said she “cannot accept anyone else in Jayalalithaa’s position”, claiming the legacy of one of the strongest leaders of Tamil Nadu.

SP-Congress Tie-Up: Sheila Dikshit Wants Graceful Exit: Sheila Dikshit, the three-time chief minister who was named by her Congress party as its candidate for the top job in Uttar Pradesh, said today that she would "gracefully withdraw", now that an alliance between her party and the Samajwadi Party is official. Significantly, she admitted that she was not consulted on the alliance.

Xi Jinping Makes Case For China’s Leadership Role In Global Trade: Chinese President Xi Jinping offered a vigorous defence of free trade at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday in a speech that underscored Beijing's desire to play a greater global role as the United States turns inward. “No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war,” Xi said, and added, pursuing protectionism is just like locking one’s self in a dark room.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Davos 2017: Spotlight On Responsible Leadership: While there will be wonderful sessions at Davos on latest developments in science and technology and on social issues like the refugee crisis, the focus is on creating equitable growth so that everyone has a stake in the future.

Antarctica Is The Best Example Of Globalisation As Humanity’s Winning Force: The world still resonates with positive outcomes of globalisation, which remains popular in all emerging markets and, hence, in most of the world.

And Now Raise The Curtain From Goods And Service Tax: The government may also like to use this opportunity to have a more effective public outreach programme so that benefits of GST are well appreciated and don’t lead to chaos initially.

What Is The Optimal Policy Response To Demonetisation? This piece analyses the different criteria that should determine the policy response, to suggest that the economic case for a large consumption-driven fiscal response – if it comes at the cost of fiscal prudence – appears very tenuous.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

RTE, NCMEI, 93rd CA: Modi Is Siding With Adharma By Not Repealing Sonia’s Communal Education Laws: Schools asking for the linguistic minority status are those run by Hindus, and non-Hindu run schools are put in charge of deciding whether they get to have that tag or not.

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

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