The Evening Wrap: Census 2021 first phase may be delayed by a year

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Sunday 30, August 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap [Here are the biggest news stories of the day]( [alt_text]( Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. First phase of Census 2021 and NPR update may be delayed by a year The first phase of the Census and the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR), scheduled for this year but deferred due to the coronavirus outbreak, [may be delayed by a year]( as there is no sign of slowdown of the pandemic. The Indian census is one of the largest administrative and statistical exercises in the world, with the involvement of more than 30 lakh officials who would visit each household across the length and breadth of the country. “Census is not an essential exercise for now. Even if it is delayed by a year, there would be no harm,” a senior official told the Press Trust of India. The official said no final decision has been taken on when the first phase of the Census 2021 and NPR update would take place, but it is almost certain that it would not be held in 2020 due to the rising cases of the coronavirus. The house-listing phase of the Census and the exercise to update NPR were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. “As the entire exercise needs the involvement of lakhs of officials and visit to each family, we can’t undermine the health risk involved in it,” the official said. BJP general secretary suggests government should be flexible on RCEP Referring to the Indo-Pacific region as the “centre of geopolitics” in the future, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav suggested that the [government could show some flexibility]( on the issue of joining the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement. The RCEP grouping’s ministerial meetings last week also announced they would leave the path “open for India” to rejoin the agreement, if India were to reconsider its position before the agreement is signed this November. [ Ram Madhav. ] Ram Madhav. “Should the decision [to walk out of] RCEP be taken as the final decision, or should we still keep one window open?” Mr. Madhav asked, speaking at a webinar organised by New Delhi-based Indo-American Friendship Association (IAFA) last week, on India’s Foreign Policy under Prime Minister Modi. “India must play its cards carefully and with much more thinking in the Indo-Pacific region,” he added. In November 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at a meeting in Bangkok that India would drop out of the RCEP negotiations with ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and partners China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, primarily due to its concerns over having its markets overrun with Chinese goods. Since then, despite several attempts by the RCEP countries to invite Indian negotiators to talks on trade, the Ministry of Commerce has repeated the government’s refusal. 14 lakh people affected by Odisha floods Over 14 lakh people were affected due to floods in five river systems of Odisha, said the State government on Sunday. “Heavy rain triggered by back-to-back low pressure areas over Bay of Bengal had caused flooding in 20 districts. The situation is fast improving in areas falling under Subarnrekha, Burhabalanga, Baitarani and Brahmani river systems,” said Pradeep Jena, MD of the State Disaster Management Authority. Seventeen people have lost their lives due to wall collapse and by slipping into swollen rivers. According to the office of the Special Relief Commissioner, 2.65 lakh people were marooned by vast sheets of water in 340 villages and 57,824 people were being served cooked food after their evacuation from water-logged houses. Preliminary assessment says 10,382 houses and 1.68 lakh hectare of crop land were affected by the flood. The current banking challenge is the most intractable one even before COVID-19: Urjit Patel In his first interaction with a journalist after stepping down from the Reserve Bank of India, former Governor Urjit Patel spoke about his new book, Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver, in a conversation on invitation from the Pune International Centre. [ File photo of former RBI Governor Urjit Patel ] File photo of former RBI Governor Urjit Patel “In the banking sector in India, which I have observed at various distances over the last 30 years, it’s the other way round. Our macroeconomic problems have created financial sector crisis periodically. The current banking challenge is the most intractable one even before COVID. We have a tendency to make a premature pronouncement of victory over any challenge that we desire to solve. We get tired very quickly,” Mr. Patel said in [an extensive and illuminating interview](. PM touts India’s potential to become ‘toy hub’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India has talent and ability to become [a toy hub for the entire world]( and called upon startups to work towards realising this potential while being “vocal about local toys”. He said the global toy industry is over ₹7 lakh crore but India’s share is very small, as he stressed on the need to work to increase it. Mr. Modi called upon start-up entrepreneurs to ‘team up for toys’ and said it is time to get vocal for local toys. He also asked young entrepreneurs to develop computer games in and also about India. Covid watch - Numbers and Developments The number of reported [coronavirus cases]( from India stands at 36,12,916 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 64,604. A [record single-day spike of 78,761 infections]( has pushed India’s COVID-19 tally to above 35 lakh, Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 a.m. showed. [ A civic worker sprays sanitisers in front of roadside shops in Kolkata on August 30, 2020. ] A civic worker sprays sanitisers in front of roadside shops in Kolkata on August 30, 2020. The Tamil Nadu government today announced its [guidelines for Unlock 4](, a day after the Union Home Ministry announced its guidelines on the same. Among the relaxations announced by the state are the opening of all places of worship, shopping malls, show rooms and big formal stores can open with 100% staff and metro rail services to resume from September 7. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [alt_text]( [M.P. village returns to conventional mode as e-learning remains elusive for tribal students]( [alt_text]( [Dogs trained by Army excel in the service of nation, find mention in PM’s ‘Mann ki Baat’]( [alt_text]( [Watch | COVID-19 and children]( [alt_text]( [Watch | World’s highest rail bridge being built in J&K]( You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0b4vv1ggbf2f90kauhrxfebysa8hkw2@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. If you can't see the mailer, please [click here.]( Group Sites [The Hindu]( | [இந்து தமிழ் திசை]( | [Business Line]( | [BL on Campus]( | [Sportstar]( | [Frontline]( | [The Hindu Centre]( | [Images]( | [roofandfloor]( | [Classifieds]( Copyright @ 2020 ,THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. [About Us]( | [Contact Us]( | [Digital Subscription](