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China softens stand against India’s admission into the NSG. “There is always room for discussion”, a Chinese foreign ministry official was quoted as saying. China had until recently been steadfastly opposed to India’s admission to the NSG. It had argued that if India were to be admitted then Pakistan too deserved to be admitted on same terms.

Made in India F-16s? This may not sound as far fetched as it sounds if Lockheed Martin’s plans to completely shift the F-16 production lines from the US to India go through. The Hindu reports that such a proposal was indeed brought up during PM Narendra Modi’s recent US visit. Boeing, the other US aerospace major, has promised to produce the F/A-18s locally if India is interested in a purchase.

Essar Leaks. Prashant Bhushan has said that he will bring the matter of fresh leak of ‘tapes’ between high ranking corporate officials and politicians to the Supreme Court. They will be made part of the ongoing hearings on an earlier batch of leaked emails - like the tapped conversations, the emails also show a nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and journalists.

Railways begins stations redevelopment programme. Habibganj station in Madhya Pradesh will be the first. The redevelopment work has been allotted to Bhopal and Indore based consortiums. Indian railways plans to redevelop some 400 stations and junctions across the country. The entire cost of redevelopment will be met by leveraging commercial development of land and air space in and around the redeveloped stations.

FROM THE STATES



Kerala escapes prohibition. The new LDF government in Kerala may reverse the earlier administration’s attempts at a gradual imposition of prohibition in the state. “We are for abstinence, not prohibition. Prohibition leads to many socio-legal problems. Wherever liquor has been prohibited, there is a tendency to consume through illegal means”, the new CM Pinarayi Vijayan was quoted as saying in an interview.



Congress plans minority conventions to woo Muslim votes. After some months spent trying to woo the Dalit vote, the Congress party has decided to pull out all stops to ensure the minority votebank stays with it. A series of ‘interactions’ are planned in multiple locations. Clerics will be ‘special invitees’. There is also the usual ‘Iftar’ party being planned at the party state headquarters.