Daily Briefing: White Paper on Indian economy tabled in Parliament; repo rate remains unchanged; and more

One thing is clear — the Centre did not hold back in its 59-page ‘White paper on the Indian Economy’, tabled in Parliament this week. From corruption, to strained public finances — it essentially flags the worst of the economy during the Congress-led UPA’s decade-long tenure.

Unsurprisingly, the paper skips references to what the UPA has often prided itself on: GDP growth in its first term at over 8.8 per cent during 2004-05 to 2008-09 as per compound annual growth rate (CAGR) based on the old 2004-05 base year. 

It’s also apparent that this isn’t the last time we will be hearing about the white paper. It will be one of the major poll planks of the ruling BJP with its state units being directed to launch a nationwide campaign around it.

Only in the Express

Express Interview | Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was in Delhi yesterday to protest against the Centre over its fiscal policy towards states. In an interview with The Indian Express, he talks about why his government was forced to take this step and why he sees no contradictions in the Left’s alliance with the Congress in INDIA. 

From the Front Page

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Thursday left the repo rate — the rate at which the RBI lends to banks — unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the sixth time in a row as uncertainty over food inflation continues to pose a threat to inflation.

A portion of a wall at Delhi’s Gokulpuri Metro Station collapsed and fell on the road below, killing a 53-year-old man and injuring four others. The DMRC suspended two officials and ordered a safety inspection of the entire network.

Days after announcing that a fence would be constructed along the entire 1,643-km-long Myanmar border to facilitate better surveillance, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Centre has decided to scrap the Free Movement Regime between India and Myanmar to ensure internal security of the country. Read more here

Must Read 

What we can learn from tribal communities that have a consciousness which evaluates gods, Devanura Mahadeva writes, worship them and question their divinity. But do we have the consciousness of evaluating our gods? And with the Lok Sabha polls around the corner, the need to cultivate the consciousness of evaluation gains further significance.

The Karnataka government threw a curveball at India’s ride-hailing industry by announcing uniform minimum fares for both app-based cabs and city taxis depending upon vehicle cost and disallowing surge pricing. The move might improve the earnings of cab drivers, but can disrupt India’s saturated ride-hailing market. We explain how this order can affect how much you pay for cabs

And Finally 

Even without Virat Kohli playing, but the “other guys” returning, the pressure is still on Shreyas Iyer. Luckily for him, his contender Rajat Patidar didn’t make it count either and the shootout between the two for a spot in the team when the third Test swings into action in Rajkot on February 15 will be interesting. That it has come to this is Iyer’s own making, Sriram Veera writes.

Delhi Confidential: The Supreme Court’s seven-judge constitution bench hearing sub-classification of Scheduled Castes witnessed some lighter moments this week when Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud asked a lawyer as to which side he was appearing for, petitioners or respondents.

In today’s episode of the ‘3 things’ podcast, Vikas Pathak talks about LK Advani being conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.

Until tomorrow,

Rahel Philpose and Srishti Kapoor