The Evening Wrap: Govt needs to be frightened out of its complacency, says Raghuram Rajan

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the biggest news stories of the day [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Monday 07, September 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap [The Evening Wrap: Govt needs to be frightened out of its complacency, says Raghuram Rajan]( [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. Govt needs to be frightened out of its complacency, says Raghuram Rajan on GDP contraction The [23.9% contraction in GDP growth numbers for the first quarter of FY 2020-21 “should alarm us all”,]( and the government and its bureaucrats need to be “frightened out of their complacency” and into meaningful activity, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said in a LinkedIn post. With discretionary spending expected to stay low until the virus is contained, government-provided relief becomes all the more important, Rajan said, adding that the government’s reluctance to do more today to conserve resources for a possible future stimulus is a “self-defeating” strategy. “Without relief measures, the growth potential of the economy will be seriously damaged,” he said. Rajan further said that the 23.9% contraction in India, which will probably be worse when estimates of the damage in the informal sector come out, compares with a drop of 12.4% in Italy and 9.5% in the United States — two of the most Covid-19-affected advanced countries. “Government-provided relief becomes all the more important. This has been meager; primarily free food grains to poor households; and credit guarantees to banks for lending to small and medium (SMEs) firms, where the take down has been patchy,” Rajan added. Vodafone and Idea merge to become one brand: ‘Vi’ [ The new ‘Vi’ logo. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement ] The new ‘Vi’ logo. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement [Vodafone and Idea, the two brands of Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) have together been rebranded as “Vi”]((read as “We”) from Monday and with this new identity, the two distinct brands will now fade away. “The integration of the two brands is a culmination of the largest telecom integration in the world,” VIL said in a filing with the stock exchanges. Unveiling the new brand, Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, VIL said, “Vodafone Idea came together as a merged entity two years ago [August 31, 2018]. We have, since then, focused on integrating two large networks, our people, and processes.” He said the brand integration not only marked the completion of the largest telecom merger in the world, but also set the company on its future journey to offer “world class digital experiences to one billion Indians”. Chinese spokesperson says China ‘never recognized so-called Arunachal Pradesh’, calls it ‘south Tibet’ Days after five Indians were reportedly abducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh ([click here to read the story](), China’s state-affiliated media outlet Global Times reported foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian as saying that Beijing had “no details on Indian army sending a message to PLA about five missing Indians in the region”. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju had tweeted that the Indian army had sent a hotline message to the PLA about the alleged abduction incident. The Global Times report also quoted Lijian as saying that China had never recognised “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” which is “China’s south Tibet region”. Ram Madhav attends funeral of slain Tibetan SFF solider, deletes tweet on it [BJP leader Ram Madhav pays tribute to Company Leader Nyima Tenzin. ]BJP leader Ram Madhav pays tribute to Company Leader Nyima Tenzin. Till now, the government has never publicly acknowledged the 58-year old “Special Frontier Force” (SFF). But today, [BJP general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted about attending the funeral of Company Leader Nyima Tenzin]( who, military sources said, was killed in an accidental mine blast during patrolling in Ladakh last week. The funeral of Tenzin, who belongs to the Choglamsar Tibetan refugee settlement outside Leh, was held on Monday morning. Soldiers wearing the SFF uniform gave the last salute, and Madhav laid a wreath. Chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” (Long live India) and “Tibet desh ki Jai” (Long live the Tibet nation), along with slogans of the “Vikas Regiment” (as the SFF’s seven battalions or “Establishment 2-2” are known), were raised after the bugle was played at the funeral. “Attended the funeral of SFF Company Leader Nyima Tenzin, a Tibetan who laid down his life protecting our borders in Ladakh,” wrote Madhav in a tweet on Monday, adding, “Let the sacrifices of such valiant soldiers bring peace along the Indo-Tibetan border. That will be the real tribute to all martyrs.” Subsequently, he deleted the tweet. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Defence declined to comment on the funeral, and whether the public funeral of the Tibetan soldier denoted a departure from the past. A senior MEA official told The Hindu that Madhav “does not represent the government,” adding that as there had been “no official communication, only media reports” of the funeral, it did not signify a change in the government’s position. If you are curious to know more about the mysterious SFF, we have an [explainer for you here]( Kangana Ranaut gets Y category security, thanks Amit Shah [ ] The [Union Home Ministry has accorded central security cover to actor Kangana Ranaut](, a senior Ministry official said today. The actor has been engaged in Twitter spats with the ruling Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra since the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. She has been living at her family home in Himachal Pradesh’s Manali for the past few months. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), deployed in internal security duties, will provide cover to Ranaut across the country, said the official. It was not clear if the actor will pay for the security cover. Industrialist Mukesh Ambani, who also has CRPF security cover, pays fees to the government for availing of the services. Y category entails that the individual will be protected by 11-12 personnel round the clock. Reacting to the development, Ranaut thanked Home Minister Amit Shah on Twitter. “This proves that a patriot’s voice cannot be crushed by fascists. I am grateful to Amit Shah, if he wanted, he could have advised me to go to Mumbai after a few days but he respected a daughter of India, protected her pride and self-respect. Jai Hind,” she tweeted in Hindi. Djokovic disqualified from U.S. Open [ Novak Djokovic reacts after inadvertently hitting a line judge with a ball during the fourth round of the US Open on September 6, 2020. ] Novak Djokovic reacts after inadvertently hitting a line judge with a ball during the fourth round of the US Open on September 6, 2020. [World No.1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the U.S. open]( after a bizarre incident on Sunday. Trailing 5-6 in the first set of his U.S. Open fourth round match against World No. 30 Pablo Carreno Busta, a frustrated Novak Djokovic unintentionally struck a lineswoman on the throat with the ball. Djokovic immediately realised that he had made a grave error and rushed over to check on the lineswoman. But the damage was done, and tournament officials following the rule book had no option but to disqualify Djokovic and award the match to Busta. While there is little doubt that Djokovic struck the lineswoman unintentionally, the Grand Slam rulebook leaves little room for excusing such behaviour. The Serbian had to be disqualified for “intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences”. Govt intervention in education policy should be minimal, says PM [ Prime Minister Narendra Modi ] Prime Minister Narendra Modi The [government’s intervention in the education policy should be “minimal,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi]( said on Monday, stressing that the policy belonged to the whole country, rather than to any particular government in power. Modi was addressing the inaugural session of the Governors’ conference on the National Education Policy (NEP), which is being attended by State Education Ministers and Vice Chancellors. The focus of the conference is NEP implementation. “The education policy and the education system are an important means of fulfilling the aspirations of the country. The Central and the State governments, as well as local bodies, all have responsibility for the education system. But it is also true that the government’s interference or intervention in education policy should be minimal,” said Modi. “Just as the foreign policy or defence policy are the policies of the country, not of the government, so is the education policy. It belongs to the whole country,” he added, urging “collective responsibility” in implementing the policy. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of [reported coronavirus cases]( from India stood at 42,44,604 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 72,161. After recording a daily jump of 90,802 new cases, India has displaced Brazil to take the second place after the United States in terms of caseload. It is the second consecutive day when India reported over 90,000 new cases. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are the five worst-hit states. Meanwhile, Attorney General of India KK Venugopal went into self-isolation on Monday after his colleague tested positive for the coronavirus. In Brief: The Defence Research and Development Organsition (DRDO) on Monday successfully carried out a test flight of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), which will lead to the development of hypersonic cruise missiles in future. “It's a major technological breakthrough. This testing paves the way for the development of more critical technologies, materials and hypersonic vehicles. This puts India in a select club of nations who have demonstrated this technology,” DRDO Chairman Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy said. A test of the technology demonstrator was earlier conducted in June 2019. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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