Good Morning, Swarajya Readers.



Here’s what you need to know today.



Vijay Mallya has offered to pay Rs 6,000 crore to settle Rs 9,000 crore that he owes to banks. He proposed to pay Rs 4,000 crore upfront by September end and an additional Rs 2,000 crore if he wins a lawsuit filed against a plane engine maker. If banks accept his proposal their actual loss will be just 7% on principal.

RBI has finally submitted to the Supreme Court a list of defaulters owing Rs 500 crore or more to public sector banks. But the RBI cautioned against disclosing the names of the biggest defaulters which it said would dent the “fiduciary relationship” between the RBI and the banks, and between the banks and customers.

A Central government-appointed committee has sought a ban on verbal, unilateral and triple talaq as well as polygamy. The report also suggests introducing provisions to provide for interim remittances. Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition by a Muslim woman on the divorce norms has asked the Central Govt to submit the report within six weeks.

PM Modi has floated the idea of holding simultaneous elections to panchayats, urban local bodies, states and Parliament. This, he feels, will give political and social workers more time to take people-oriented programmes to the grassroots and also help save a lot of public money. Apparently, he had mooted this idea at an all-party meet held before the budget session.

GEAC, the central regulator that gives clearances for field trials of GM crops, has met eight times since NDA came to power and hasapproved 40 of the 51 proposals for “confined field trials of transgenic crops”. Among the crops that received a green signal for trials were rice, sugar cane, maize, chickpea, brinjal and potato.

A Division Bench of the Uttarakhand High Court in Nainital hasordered to keep the single judge’s order which permitted Harish Rawat to take a floor test “in abeyance” till April 6. The order came after the Centre filed an appeal challenging the single judge’s order on the grounds that no floor test can be held when the state is under President’s rule.

Donald Trump said on Wednesday that nuclear-armed Pakistan is a very very vital problem for the United States. He asserted that Pakistan needs to get hold of their situation. Trump further added that the US needs to stay in Afghanistan because Pakistan has nuclear weapons which have to be protected.



Op-eds You Shouldn’t Miss

Will Suresh Prabhu’s IRCTC Become India’s Alibaba Or Air India: Now that online marketplaces have been allowed 100 percent FDI, IRCTC will become a poor cousin of businesses like Amazon if it does not move fast.

Indian States highlight Institutional Decay: The principle of federalism has deepened in India with the gradual devolution of administrative and fiscal powers over the years. The political parties need to do their bit by chipping away at political centralization and the repugnant high command culture.

Pakistan In Dangerous Times But Still In Denial: To really force a change, let the economic gap between the two countries rise to such obscene levels that even the people of Pakistan start wondering at the idea of Pakistan.

Swarajya Special

Why Isn’t AAP Fraud Making News: A dissident from the Aam Aadmi Party has been sending proof of fake PAN cards, false claims of educational qualifications and finance by shell companies to journalists via press conferences and emails for about a year — to no avail.

Smart Cities Special

A Sneak Peek Into The Digitized Future Of Water Management: An innovative digital solution to the water problem.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief.



Have a great day ahead!