ModiWatch: Prime Minister Narendra paid homage to former Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary.

PM Modi held three rallies in Maharashtra ahead of the state assembly elections.

PM Modi will launch a commemorative stamp and coin today, to mark the birth anniversary of tribal icon and freedom fighter Birsa Munda.

The Commonwealth of Dominica will bestow its highest national award, the Dominica Award of Honour, upon PM Modi, for his support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commerce Minister eyes repo rate cut

Commerce Minister asks for rate cut: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut repo rates. However, the RBI did not make any comments.

Opposition criticises Commerce Minister: The Congress claimed that Minister Piyush Goyal’s suggestion that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) need not go by food inflation data to decide on interest rate cuts, displayed “extreme insensitivity”.

Countdown to state elections

Home Minister predicts defeat for Congress: Home Minister Amit Shah declared during several rallies held in Jharkhand ahead of the second round of voting that the Congress would not win even five seats in the State's Assembly election.

Congress points out Adani-BJP nexus: The Congress party declared that Ajit Pawar’s disclosure validated the Congress’s consistent views on the nexus between Adani and the BJP.

Rahul Gandhi slams Maharashtra government: Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, blasted the BJP-led Mahayuti government for stealing five lakh jobs while shifting several projects to Gujarat.

FDI flow news - brought to you by

Blackstone-Haldiram deal: Blackstone dropped plans to acquire a majority stake in Haldiram, India's snacks giant, but is now discussing the purchase of a 20% stake at a valuation of $8 billion.

IndiGrid ties up with UK and Norway: IndiGrid, a power sector infrastructure investment trust, has tied up with British International Investment (BII), and the Norwegian Climate Investment Fund Norfund, to form a new platform, EnerGrid, valued at $300 million.

FDI in sensitive sectors: Officials informed a parliamentary panel that since 2019, the home ministry has approved 3,638 bids for foreign direct investment in sensitive industries.

Disney's merger in India

Reliance-Viacom-Disney merger: The merger of Viacom18's media and JioCinema companies into Star India Private Limited (SIPL) has officially taken effect, according to a statement released by Reliance Industries Limited, Viacom18 Media Private Limited, and The Walt Disney Company. The merger is estimated to be valued at $8.5 billion.

Turbulence in Manipur

Armed Forces Act re-imposed in Manipur: The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been re-imposed in the jurisdiction of six police stations in Manipur. The conflict in the state has been going on for 19 months.

ISRO looking for deal with Mexico

ISRO’s proposal for Mexico: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has shown interest in building an Earth Observation (EO) satellite for Mexico to deepen the diplomatic relationship further.

Expectations from the West and ties with UAE

Petroleum Minister hopeful from the West for stability in oil prices: Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said he hopes that more oil production coming from Western countries like the US and Canada will calm markets and bring stability to oil prices.

Economic advisor says India prepared for Trump: Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said that India is “better prepared” this time for the Trump administration.

Foreign Minister hails relations with UAE: Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that India-UAE ties have reached new heights in sectors such as fintech, renewable energy, infrastructure, and defence.

Environmental exemptions for industries: The Environment Ministry has exempted 39 categories of industries from the mandatory requirement of approaching State pollution control boards for permission to run their industries.

Indian aviation updates

Vistara-Air India merger: The Vistara-Air India merger will birth a world-class airline believes Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran.

Aviation Minister says don’t want duopoly: Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the government is looking for more airlines in India and doesn’t want a duopoly to exist.

Import-export and rise in food prices

Rise in import-export: Despite a 3.9% increase in imports to a new record high of $66.34 billion, India's goods exports increased 17.25% to $39.2 billion in October.

Read the full story:

Rise in wholesale food prices: Food prices increased by 11.6%, driving India's wholesale price inflation to a four-month high of 2.4% in October from 1.84% in September.

Views from the Op-Eds: Violence in Manipur.

As ethnic strife continues to rage across Manipur, ten armed terrorists were killed in a confrontation between the police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jiribam district on November 11. More than 250 people have been killed and 60,000 displaced since the conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities began in May 2023.

The editorial team (The Hindu) writes, that Chief Minister N Biren Singh has been unable to tame the violence in the state, hence the whole responsibility is on the Centre to resolve this issue. Kuki groups are calling for the division of Manipur to create a Union Territory with a legislature. They argue that only the Centre has the resources to resolve this dispute and it needs to do more to encourage harmony between the Kuki and Meitei populations.

Kishalay Bhattacharjee (The Tribune) questions the Centre's intent to resolve this issue. He adds, that all of this appears to have unmoved the Prime Minister, who has so far declined to even discuss it, much less travel to the state. Militarisation always leads to violence by state actors, he writes while highlighting the plight of women in conflict areas. "Manipur is a disturbing case in point of the rising gender-based violence as well as a decline in the gender-sensitive framework, despite its tradition of an assertive women-led civil society."

Pradip Phanjoubam (The Telegraph) writes that the centre and state governments are waiting "for the warring parties to lose steam and suspend hostilities out of fatigue." He believes the conflict will become a "frozen conflict", like the one between Nagas and Kukis. He concludes by saying, that identities don't have to be strictly fixed and this might be the key to resolving numerous ethnic conflicts in the Northeast, like the one in Manipur.

Delhi Today: Hazy.

Air quality remains severe: As qir quality in Delhi remained “severe” for the second consecutive day, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has decided to implement Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) from today.

While GRAP-3 is in place, construction, demolition, mining activities, non-electric/non-CNG interstate buses, and schools until class 5 will be restricted.

Closing Prices Banner