2 SEPTEMBER 2016

Ø  The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has erred on its forecast for monsoon rain in August. In June, it said that India would get more rain than it usually did but as of August 31, the country got significantly less — or 8.5 % less rain — than what’s normal for the month, according to the IMD website. While this wouldn’t affect water availability for agriculture and the storage in reservoirs, it suggests that the agency’s weather models are still not robust enough to capture changes in global climate that could affect the Indian monsoon.

Ø  Odisha became the 16th State to ratify the constitutional amendment that will pave the way for the roll-out of the Goods & Services Tax (GST). Ratified now by more than half the 29 States, the amendment requires only the President’s assent — which, it is expected, to receive expeditiously — before the Centre can notify it. Earlier, starting with Assam, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Goa ratified the amendment.

Ø  Visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi has said India and Egypt must work towards greater cooperation on terrorism, even as he told External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj that he wished to take anti-terror cooperation to a “whole new level.” “Egypt and India are stabilising forces in their regions,” President Al Sisi, who landed in Delhi on Thursday, said in exclusive comments to The Hindu. On the issue of Syria, Mr. Al Sisi indicated a break from the OIC line, where countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have called for the removal of President Bashar Al Assad first, rather than an outright war against Islamic State (IS). In a position closer to India’s, he said, “Egypt believes that it is crucial for any political settlement to preserve the countries’ unity, territorial integrity, national institutions and resources. In parallel, a comprehensive approach to fight Daesh [IS] and other terrorist organisations, which share the same ideology, needs to be adopted, as well as enhancing cooperation to cut off their sources of funding and armament.” Mr. Al Sisi will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning, when a number of agreements are expected to be signed on bilateral and trade cooperation. In particular, he is keen on attracting Indian investment into his $8.2-billion New Suez Canal project, which he called a “great opportunity” for India and Indian companies in Egypt.

Ø  The Gujarat government has inked a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to develop 11 small airports and airstrips under the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to boost regional air connectivity in the State. As per the MoU provisions, Gujarat and the Centre will jointly undertake development and upgrading of infrastructure in 11 unserved or underserved airports and airstrips in Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Surat, Porbandar, Mehsana, Mandavi, Amreli, Kandla, Keshod and Deesa.

Ø  An Australian court on Thursday confirmed its preliminary decision made earlier this week asking The Australian newspaper to provide all leaked data of India’s Scorpene submarine to the French shipbuilder DCNS and to stop publishing any more details. The paper, which has already withdrawn information published on its website after the first decision of the court on Monday, will provide the DCNS with the documents in its possession and is prohibited from publishing any additional document. “The Supreme Court of the State of New South Wales [Australia] confirmed today the preliminary decision it had rendered on Monday, August 29 against The Australian,” the company said in a statement. Over 22,000 pages of top secret data on the capabilities of six highly advanced submarines being built for the Indian Navy in Mumbai, in collaboration with the French company, have been leaked.

Ø  India’s position on the South China Sea and the newly evolving defence partnership with the United States for the Asia-Pacific region will be in focus over the next week as Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Southeast Asia and China to participate in a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings. The outreach will begin on September 2 with Mr. Modi leaving for Vietnam before proceeding to Hangzhou in China for the G-20 summit on September 4 and 5. The trip to Vietnam will highlight growing strategic convergence between the two sides, which includes the possibility of India transferring BrahMos missiles to Vietnam. Preeti Saran, Secretary (East), External Affairs Ministry, on Thursday, however, refused to confirm if India would commit to supply the BrahMos missile system to Vietnam, and hinted that naval cooperation had been ongoing with the country. Parallel to security and strategic partnership, India and Vietnam are cultural partners and the bilateral agenda will include archaeological support to Vietnam to safeguard the Cham temples of the country. Vietnam is a significant partner of India as it is the country-coordinator of India in ASEAN. The Prime Ministerial delegation will then move to Hangzhou in China which is the venue of the 2016 G 20 summit. The delegation for G 20 will include Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and the Indian sherpa for G20, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya.