Good Morning, Swarajya Readers!



Here’s what you need to know today.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes two years in office today. On the eve of its second year anniversary, the NDA government cleared a capital goods policy which aims to increase the share of capital goods in total manufacturing activity from 12% to 20% by 2025. It seeks to raise production of capital goods from Rs 2.3 trillion to Rs 7.5 trillion and increase direct and indirect employment in the sector from 8.4 million to 30 million in the same time period.



The cabinet committee on economic affairs approved five railway projects of network expansion at a cost of Rs.10,736 crore which will benefit Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh.



The Cabinet gave its approval to set up six new IITs at Tirupati, Palakkad, Dharwar, Bhilai, Goa and Jammu, and for conversion of the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, to an IIT.



The Cabinet also cleared decks for the addition of these communities to the list of the Scheduled Tribes: Malayali Gounder, Narikuravas and Kurivikkaran in Tamil Nadu; Irular in Puducherry; Boro, Boro Kachari, Bodo, Bodo Kachari and Karbi in Assam; Bhuinya, Bhuiyan, Bhuyan, Kisan, Saunra, Saonra and Dhangad in Chhattisgarh; Bhogta, Deshwari, Ganjhu, Dautalbandi (Dwalbandi), Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, Khairi (Kheri) and Puran in Jharkhand and Darlong in Tripura.



On his first day in office, Sarbananda Sonowal, 17th Chief Minister of Assam and the BJP’s first, abolished all the check gates in the state which had become a hub of syndicates and illegal activities. Sonowal also visited the National Register of Citizens (NRC) office and took stock of the work progress there and vowed full support and cooperation to the officials for early, speedy and flawless preparation of the NRC.



The Central government has instructed the state governments to change their labour laws to allow women to work night shifts in order to improve the participation of women in the workforce. Since the central legislation - Factories amendment bill which allows women to work night shifts is pending in Parliament for the past two years, the Labour and Employment ministry has written to the state secretaries prodding them to take the initiative.



The Barack Obama administration says that it’s kind of ‘okay’ with India’s Chabahar agreement with Iran and understand that it’s important for it to gain access to Afghanistan and Central Asia which it currently doesn’t have across its land boundary.



The Australia Bureau of Meteorology announced that the dreaded El Nino has ended. This was among the strongest in history and responsible for two successive droughts in India. While this is a good news for the monsoon, some see it as a precursor to floods and worry that monsoon can extend by one month.



Op-eds You Shouldn’t Miss



The Takeaways From Tehran: The Prime Minister’s visit has given India another chance to craft a strategic relationship with Iran and to enhance its influence in West Asia. But New Delhi has its work cut out for it.



The Court’s Failure Is In Its Own Hands: The Supreme Court’s attempt to orchestrate environmental governance in a case relating to diesel taxis in Delhi hurtles it towards a new frontier and one for which it is wholly unprepared.



Are Payment Banks Already Losing Their Allure: Non-serious players, who thought this was a good way to get into banking through the side-door, are getting out. It’s good news for the fledgling sector.



Swarajya Special



GM Food Is As Safe As Non-GM Food: Since the first widespread commercialisation of GM crops 18 years ago there has been no evidence of ill effects linked to the consumption of any approved GM crop.



We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!