The Evening Wrap: Go local, Modi tells India

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 27, December 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. Make buying local a new year resolution: PM In his last ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio address for 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday [urged people to make a New Year resolution to substitute foreign-made products for indigenous goods]( in 2021 “for the sake of the country”. Mr. Modi also asked manufacturers to make sure that Indian-made products are up to global standards, as a part of the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India push and “Vocal for Local” campaign. He reiterated his earlier appeal to Indians to make a list of products used daily, identify which ones are made abroad and look for Indian substitutes. “...think of things manufactured abroad that have permeated into our lives unknowingly, in a way, shackling us down. Let us find out their substitutes made in India. and decide that henceforth we shall use products made with the hard work and sweat of the people of India. You make New Year resolutions every year…this time one has to certainly make a resolution for the sake of the country,” Mr. Modi said, according to an English translation of his address released by the government. Congress, Akalis slam BJP over use of offensive terms against farmers The ruling Congress and former NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday [hit out at the BJP](, accusing party leaders of using derogatory terms against protesting farmers. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked BJP leaders to stop maligning the farmers and their genuine fight for justice by calling them offensive names like ‘urban naxals’, ‘khalistanis’, ‘hooligans’ etc. “If the BJP cannot distinguish between anguished citizens fighting for their survival and terrorists-militants-hooligans, it should give up all pretense of being a people’s party,” said the Chief Minister in a statement. A party which treats citizens exercising their democratic right of protest as Naxals and terrorists has lost all right to rule over those citizens, he added. Hitting out at BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh over his alleged description of farmers in Punjab as ‘urban naxals’, Captain Amarinder said with these remarks, the BJP leadership had hit a new low in its desperation to promote its political agenda. He pointed out that such protests by angry farmers were taking place not just in Punjab but also in BJP-ruled states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. “Do the farmers protesting in all these places look like naxals to you? And does that mean law and order has collapsed everywhere,” he asked. Nadda posts video of old Rahul Gandhi speech to attack him over opposition to farm laws BJP president J P Nadda on Sunday [shared an old video of Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Lok Sabha]( in which he seems to be advocating the need for farmers to get rid of middlemen and sell their produce directly to industry, as he accused the Congress leader of playing politics over the ongoing farmers’ protest “What is this magic happening Rahul ji. You are opposing now what you had advocated earlier. You have nothing to do with the country''s or farmers'' interests. You have to play politics only. But this is your bad luck that your hypocrisy will not work. People of the country and farmers have recognised your double standards,” [Mr. Nadda tweeted in Hindi]( along with the video clip. The Congress has backed the farmers’ protest against three agriculture-marketing laws which give cultivators an option to sell their produce directly to private players. [ BJP president J.P. Nadda. File ] BJP president J.P. Nadda. File In his speech, apparently made in the last Lok Sabha when he was an MP from Amethi, Mr. Gandhi is heard saying that a farmer during his trip to Uttar Pradesh asked him to explain the “magic” behind a packet of potato chips costing ₹10 while farmers sell potatoes for ₹2 per kg. When he asked what they thought was the reason for this, the farmer said factories are located very far from them and if they could sell their produce directly there, they would get all the money without middlemen earning any cut, Mr. Gandhi is heard saying in the short video posted by Mr. Nadda. That was the idea behind a food park, and this is in a way what farmers and labourers of Amethi and 10-12 districts of Uttar Pradesh have been fighting for, he says in the clip. Validity of driving licence, RC extended till March 31 The Union Transport Ministry on Sunday [extended the validity of motor vehicle documents]( like Driving Licence (DL), Registration Certificate (RC) and permits till March 31, 2021, in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had earlier issued advisories dated March 30, 2020, June 9, 2020 and August 24, 2020 in connection with extension of validity of documents related to Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. “The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has extended the validity of vehicular documents like DLs, RCs, permits etc till March 31, 2021 in the light of need to prevent spread of COVID-19. The Ministry has today issued a directory to the States and Union Territory administrations in the regard,” a MoRTH statement said. Dhoni named captain of ICC ODI and T20 teams of decade, Kohli for tests Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Sunday [named captain of ICC’s ODI and T20 International teams of the decade]( while Virat Kohli stamped his pre-eminence in world cricket after being voted the skipper of the Test team. Indians dominated the limited-over teams by having three and four players in the ODI and T20I respectively while England have maximum number of players — four — in the Test side. The 39-year-old Dhoni, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, was one of the three Indians in the ODI team of the decade, the others being Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli. [ M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli. File ] M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli. File Dhoni has three other compatriots in the T20I team — Rohit, Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. Besides being named captain of Test team, Kohli is the only player in the world to have been voted in the teams of the decade in all formats. The teams of the decades were announced by the ICC ahead of the Awards of the Decade ceremony, to be held in virtual mode on Monday. Covid watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stands at 1,01,98,232 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 1,47,830. In brief: Two-days after admission at a hospital in Hyderabad, Telangana, superstar [Rajnikanth was discharged]( on Sunday. The actor was counselled to avoid any activity that increases the risk of contracting COVID-19. He was admitted in Apollo Hospitals on Friday morning with severe hypertension and exhaustion. “His blood pressure has been stabilized and he is feeling better. In view of his improved medical condition, he is being discharged from the hospital today,” stated the hospitals’ management on Sunday afternoon. [ Rajinikanth in Chennai on December 9, 2020. ] Rajinikanth in Chennai on December 9, 2020. Eminent [dance scholar and critic Sunil Kothari, 87, passed away]( on Sunday morning in a private hospital in Delhi because of COVID-19 related complications. A Sangeet Natak Akademi fellow, Kothari blazed a new trail in documenting Indian classical dance forms. Born in Kheda district of Gujarat, Kothari qualified as a Chartered Accountant and taught in Mumbai’s Sydenham College for a brief while before turning to dance studies. He completed his Ph.D. on the dance drama traditions of South India, and Natyashastra in 1977 from M.S. University, Baroda. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow Today's Top Picks [alt_text]( [LAC hotspots turn brand buzzwords in Kashmir Valley]( [alt_text]( [Tiger radio collared in Sunderbans for assessing tiger-human interactions]( [alt_text]( [The year that lost 1% of global GDP to cybercrime]( [alt_text]( [Here’s a look at how social media fared in 2020]( 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-0b451s9bbf2f90kauhrxfebysa8hkrp@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. 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