Morning Digest | Singapore PM’s speech uncalled for, says India; India, UAE to sign trade pact, and more

A select list of stories to read before you start your day

Taking a stern view of a speech in parliament made by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, where he criticised the decline of “Nehru’s India” to the present, where Indian Members of Parliament face “criminal charges”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Singapore’s High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, on Thursday. The comments were “raised” by officials with Mr. Wong, according to government sources, who said Mr. Lee’s comments were “uncalled for” and “unacceptable”. 

Tamil Nadu has made clear to the Supreme Court that it does not want the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) to be set up in a sensitive ecological zone in the Western Ghats at great cost to wildlife, biodiversity, and by ignoring the local opposition and public agitations to the project. The State said the project would be a source of distress to the shy tigers and cause “enormous” irreversible damage to the already bogged down Western Ghats.

At a meeting at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) called by Russia to discuss the Ukraine crisis, on the seventh anniversary of the Minsk II ceasefire agreement, India called for a diplomatic solution to the tensions. “India has been in touch with all concerned parties. It is our considered view that the issue can only be resolved through diplomatic dialogue,” India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, T.S. Tirumurti told the Security Council. Hours earlier, U.S. diplomat Donald Lu had said that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had held frank discussions on Russia and Ukraine. India is trying to balance its interests, given its strong relationship with both the U.S. and Russia. On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden had said that Russia could invade Ukraine “within the next several days”.

India and the United Arab Emirates will sign the first ever bilateral Free Trade Agreement between the two countries on Friday. The FTA — Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) — is expected to be in focus during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan. A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said the summit will provide both the leaders an opportunity to discuss “bilateral cooperation and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest”.

Investigators examining the email exchanges between Chitra Ramkrishna, controversial former MD and CEO of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), and an unidentified ‘yogi’, suspect the two may have been using a code. The emails, which show that a ‘yogi’ was guiding Ms. Ramkrishna to run the NSE, have several paragraphs that seem out of place. For example, in February 2017, the guru wrote to Ms. Ramkrishna, “Keep bags ready I am planning to travel to Seychelles next month, will try if you can come with me before Kanchan goes to London with Kanchana and Barghava and you to New Zealand with two children. ‘HK is a preferred transit or Singapore for onward journey.’ In case you need help, pl let me know Seshu will do the needful.”

Taking forward the clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to eliminate single-use plastics, the Environment Ministry has notified comprehensive guidelines on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic packaging, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Thursday. Announcing the notification of the new Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022 through social media late on Thursday night, Mr. Yadav said the guidelines provide a framework to strengthen the circular economy of plastic packaging waste and promote alternatives to plastic.

Details of the conviction of cases involving human trafficking shared in Parliament earlier this month points out that the conviction rate in human trafficking cases has been declining over the past four years. The number of Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) in the country has increased to 696. AHTUs are specialised investigation units with the law enforcement that were created upon the directive of the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2008, by State governments in their respective States.