From The Newsroom: PM Modi tells entrepreneurs to 'team up for toys'

In your evening news brief, From The Newsroom, Modi tells entrepreneurs to 'team up for toys'; South Western Railway begins transporting the trucks on flat wagons between Karnataka and Maharashtra; senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid speaks about the party’s leadership issue.

Hi, this is Ahmed Shariff and you are listening to, From The Newsroom— your daily evening news catch up show from Deccan Herald.

Here are the top news of today, Sunday: August 30, 2020:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has talent and ability to become a toy hub for the entire world and called upon startups to work towards realising this potential while being "vocal about local toys". He said the global toy industry is over Rs 7 lakh crore but India's share is very small, as he stressed on the need to work to increase it.

Modi called upon start-up entrepreneurs to 'team up for toys' and said it is time to get vocal for local toys.

In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' broadcast, the prime minister also said people have shown an unprecedented restraint and simplicity in their festivals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also hailed farmers for an increase in sowing area for different grains.

"This is a time for festivals but at the same time, there is also a sense of discipline among people due to the COVID-19 situation...There is a close link between nature and our festivals," Modi said.

He also asked young entrepreneurs to develop computer games in and also about India.

In his address, Modi also noted that India will complete its 75 years of Independence in 2022 and suggested a host of measures to teachers to help bring to light contributions of thousands and lakhs of "unsung heroes" of the freedom struggle.

It is important that our youngsters are aware of them, he said.

Moving goods between Karnataka and Maharashtra need not be a time-consuming task dependent on road traffic as the South Western Railway on Sunday began transporting the trucks on flat wagons, with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa giving the green signal for the trial run.

Under the Roll-on/Roll-off service, loaded trucks are parked and locked on the flat railway wagons and carried to destinations, reducing the time in loading/unloading as well as the cutting transportation duration by avoiding the road traffic.

Ro-Ro trains with a capacity to carry 42 loaded trucks (1260 tonnes) will commute between Nelamangala and Bale near Solapur, covering 682 km. The quick and reliable service is expected to benefit agriculture and industries.

The chief minister stressed the importance of the multi-modal transport system. "The trucks are loaded in godowns and markets and climb the railway wagons. Once reaching the end station, they will roll off and go to the destination to unload. The service is also eco-friendly as it reduces traffic congestion and increases the life-time of trucks," he said.

Yediyurappa further noted that the service will help in sending vegetables, coconut, agro and industrial products to Maharashtra and importing onion, pulses and other materials from the neighbouring state.

"The APMC market in Nelamangala, industries in Peenya, Nelamangala and other areas will benefit from the service," he added.

The state government has to make its stance clear on the issue of providing internal reservation among SC, ST and OBC communities, JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy demanded on Sunday.

Backing internal reservation, the regional party leader charged that the government was offering "lip sympathy" on the issue without acting on it.

He questioned the government's motives in a series of tweets. "When the government can bring in 10 pc reservation for upper castes, what is stopping it from bringing internal reservation for SC, ST and OBCs? The state government should take all backward communities into confidence and implement internal reservation. The Supreme Court's recent observation on the issue is in favour of internal reservation. Implementing it, is the duty of the government in the interest of social justice," he said.

Further, the Prime Minister himself being from an oppressed community, he should ensure internal reservation in the interest of all sub-communities, Kumaraswamy argued. "Even to this day, in the oppressed communities, there is a division of touchables and untouchables," he pointed out.

Domestic equity bourses in the coming week will be guided by Q1 GDP print, infrastructure output data for July and monthly auto sales numbers, which together will give an indication about the health of the economy, analysts said.

During this data heavy week, the investor focus will also remain on global market trends and COVID-19 updates like the number of infection cases and news related to the progress of vaccines.

"This week, participants will be closely eyeing auto sales number and GDP data for cues on how the economy is progressing. Besides, monsoon progress and news updates related to COVID-19 would also be on their radar," said Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

The Indian market last week, ended August 28, showed a stellar performance, with the BSE Sensex gaining 1,032 points and the NSE Nifty adding 276 points -- both indices rising 2 per cent each.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) will release the infrastructure output data for July and the GDP number for the April-June quarter on Monday.

Various rating agencies and industry experts have been forecasting GDP contraction for the first quarter as the economy came under a severe pressure in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and ensuing lockdowns during this period.

As other macro data are concerned, auto companies will announce their monthly sales data for August this week and PMI data for manufacturing and services sector are also due.

Careless behaviour of people and complacency are leading to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh, which saw a 78 per cent rise in cases in the past two months, according to medical experts and government officials.

A senior official from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhopal expressed concern over the governments fresh guidelines allowing political, social and religious congregations of up to 100 people from September 21.

Till Saturday, Madhya Pradesh reported 60,875 COVID-19 cases since the disease outbreak in the state on March 20.

An analysis of the government data shows that 47,282 of these total cases, or about 78 per cent, were reported in July and August.

These two months also reported 773 deaths, accounting for 57 per cent of the total 1,345 fatalities due to the disease so far in the state.

Talking to PTI, AIIMS, Bhopal, Director Prof Sarman Singh said "complacency among people" with regard to social distancing and other preventive norms, and the easing of restrictions are leading to the rise in COVID-19 cases.

Asserting that there was no urgency to have an elected Congress president, senior leader Salman Khurshid on Sunday said he "can't see the heavens falling" for the need of a party chief as Sonia Gandhi was still at the helm and should be the one to decide on the leadership issue.

Khurshid, a former Union minister and among the leaders considered close to the Gandhi family, told PTI in an interview that he would not have signed the letter even if he was approached by the group that wrote to Gandhi seeking urgent organisational overhaul, including an active and full-time leadership.

On Ghulam Nabi Azad, the most vocal among the 23 letter writers, seeking organisational elections to ensure that the Congress does not remain out of power for decades, Khurshid said the senior leader from Jammu and Kashmir had been part of the top echelons of the party for years when there has been no such elections and still the party prospered.

He said probably Azad wanted a change now in what the party has been doing over the years and expressed confidence that the leadership will give a thought to what he is saying as he is a senior leader.

Khurshid said the leaders who have written to Sonia Gandhi always had access to her and could have approached her rather than writing to her.

"It is very clear that the important persons in this letter do belong to the top echelons of our party and therefore Mrs Gandhi has indicated that it was best that they could have discussed it within the confines of the party," he said.

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