Daily Briefing / September 23, 2019

In Trump’s presence, Modi targets Pakistan

In a grand show of friendship and common vision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump shared the stage at a gala event replete with symbolism and substance, as the two leaders pledged to fight terrorism while heaping praise on each other’s achievements. Modi gave tacit support to Trump's 2020 re-election bid at the Howdy, Modi event, saying “Abki Baar, Trump Sarkar”. Modi’s pitch will greatly help the Republican Trump in winning votes of nearly 4 million Indian-Americans who have traditionally voted for the Democratic Party. In his address, Modi hit out at Pakistan for its support to terrorism and said India’s decision to nullify Article 370 has caused trouble to those who cannot handle their country as he called for a “decisive battle” against terrorism.

Amit Shah moots idea of multipurpose card

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 23 mooted the idea of a multipurpose identity card for citizens with all utilities like Aadhaar, passport, driving licence and bank accounts. The home minister also said that a mobile app will be used for the first time in the 2021 census and the country would be moving from the pen and paper census to digital data, which will be a big revolution in the census exercise. “Why can’t we have just one card for all utilities like Aadhaar, passport, bank account, driving licence, voter card? There should be a system that all data should be put together in a single card. That is why digital census is very important,” he said. For the 2021 census, the reference date is October 1, 2020, for J&K and snow-bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while for the rest of the country, it is March 1, 2021.

No plans to revise fiscal deficit target: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there are no plans to revise the fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal at the moment and a decision will be taken before the next Budget. Experts are of the view that the fiscal deficit will widen as a result of the corporate tax reduction. When asked if the government will consider revising the fiscal deficit target, Sitharaman said these are “decisions taken near the Budget”. In the biggest reduction in 28 years, the government slashed corporate tax by almost 10 percentage points as it looked to pull the economy out of a six-year low growth and a 45-year high unemployment rate by reviving private investments with a Rs 1.45 lakh crore tax break. Base corporate tax was reduced to 22 per cent from 30 per cent.

India will grow sustainably: Javadekar

India will grow sustainably and at the same time ensure its citizens get the benefits of development, said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. Speaking at the ‘Setting the context for the industry transition programme’ at the UN Climate Action Summit, he underscored Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Zero Defect Zero Effect’ model where no products have defects and their production has no adverse effects on the environment. “My country is on (a) growth trajectory. I can’t deny justice to my people (of wanting to develop). And we will grow, we want to grow sustainably,” he said. The summit aims to boost action to implement the Paris Agreement. India and Sweden are leading the coalition on transforming industry.

Heritage database of archaeological sites

The government is planning to set up a facility for satellite mapping and documentation to create a central heritage database of archaeological sites and artefacts. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will create this digital repository with the help of the Tata Trust, which will build this facility under its corporate social responsibility programme. The data will be hosted in India with a high-security cloud-based access. The documentation through this technique will help in building a sound knowledge base and safe future of artefacts for the successful implementation of the key articles of the UNESCO convention on the means of prohibiting and prevention of illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property. The first stop will be used for sites in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Newsmaker

Indian boxer Amit Panghal has won the silver medal in the men’s world championships after he went down to Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in the 52 kg final in Ekaterinburg. The second-seeded Panghal became the first Indian male boxer to win a silver in the world event.