Good Morning, Swarajya Readers.



Here’s what you need to know today.



In response to a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate, a special court has issued a non-bailable warrant for the arrest of Vijay Mallya. The petition accused Mallya of siphoning off Rs.430 crore from an IDBI Bank Ltd loan to his Kingfisher Airlines Ltd to purchase properties overseas. The warrant will now be sent to a local magistrate in the UK through the Ministry Of External Affairs. It may take 15-20 days to get Mallya back to India.



New economic data was released by the Commerce ministry yesterday which shows that the merchandise exports shrank 15.9 per cent in 2015-16 to $261.13 billion, and imports contracted 15.3 per cent to $379.6 billion. The trade deficit stood at $118.5 billon, compared to $137.7 billion in the previous financial year. Goods exports also contracted for the sixteenth straight month in March, when it fell 5.47 per cent to $22.7 billion, while imports also fell 21.5 per cent to $27.8 billion.



Taking a bold step towards breaking the stranglehold of sugar politics in Maharashtra, the Fadnavis government has decided to enforce a five-year ban on sanctioning new sugar mills in the drought-hit Marathwada region. Of the 202 sugar mills in Maharashtra, 40 per cent are in Marathwada region. Sugarcane crop occupies less than 4% of the cropped area but consumes 70% of the state’s irrigation water.The government is also planning to make drip irrigation compulsory for all sugar mills across the state in order to save water.

Other Notables



Continuing with his notorious streak of issuing tuglaqi firmans, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has forced UBER and OLA to drop surge pricing. After he threatened the cab aggregators of cancelling their permits or worse impounding vehicles of their drivers, the two startups announced that they were suspending the surge pricing with immediate effect. Surge pricing is used as an incentive to get more drivers on the roads when the demand is more than the supply. Once the demand starts to ebb, prices return to normal. This is Economics 101. But does Delhi CM get it? Most likely not.



Dropping its claim over the Kohinoor diamond, Indian government told Supreme Court Monday that the 108-carot diamond is not a stolen subject but was voluntarily given to the British as compensation by Sikhs for help in Sikh wars. British PM David Cameroon had earlier opposed giving Kohinoor back to India saying that if one starts giving in to such demands then the British Museum would be empty.



Brazil’s lower house voted Sunday evening to approve the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. The measure passed with at least 342 of 513 members voting in favour. The senate will now take up the measure and if it also passes it then Ms Rousseff will stand suspended and be put on trial. She can either appeal to the Supreme Federal Tribunal, Brazil’s highest court or lobby senators and at the same time use the union muscle of her Worker’s Party to bring thousands to the streets to pressure the Congress. But either way, her future prospects look bleak.



Op-eds You Shouldn’t Miss



Economic Revival - A view from the ground: Jobs, Auto sales, Cement sale, Rise in electricity generation, Growth in consumption of petroleum products and Pick-up in bank credit hints at the improvement in economic activity on the ground.



Don’t bar TASMAC, Regulate It: Total prohibition has never worked, including the multiple ones in Tamil Nadu. However, bringing down the number of TASMAC outlets could be useful.



Why The RBI Should Behave Like A Good Indian And Buy More Gold: Gold is the only currency that has held its own in an uncertain world. And the world is nothing if not uncertain right now.



Swarajya Special



Time To Dismantle Stranglehold Of Sugar Politics In Maharashtra: A brief history of the sugar-political complex in Maharashtra and how Fadnavis can dismantle it.



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