[NEWS OF THE DAY]

1. India’s G20 agenda will be inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented: PM Modi
2. Record seizure of cash, jewellery, drugs worth Rs 750 crore in poll-bound Gujarat: CEC
3. US, Britain and India remain silent about death of Jiang Zemin
4. World leaders head to Sydney in bid to push back on China
5. GST collection up 11% more than Rs 1.45 trn in Nov, gains from imports

What Else

6. NSO released GDP numbers for the quarter ending Sept 2022 on Nov 30
7. India to receive over record USD 100 billion in remittances in 2022: World Bank
8. American special representative on Afghanistan to visit India this week
9. Anti-radicalisation Cell a proactive step to control terrorism, riots: Amit Shah
10. Pakistan asks Russia for 30-40% discount on crude oil
11. Rise in terror alarming but won’t get out of control: Rana Sanaullah
12. China-EU relations: Xi meets European Council President, pledges supply chain cooperation

What Media is Cooking

India’s G20 agenda will be inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented: PM Modi

• India’s agenda for the G20 will be inclusive, ambitious, and action-oriented, said PM Modi on Thu, as the country assumes the presidency starting today (Dec 1^st).
• In a blog post, PM said that India will work to promote a universal sense of oneness and its priorities will be not only in consultation but also with the Global South.
• He underlined that the great challenges of today like climate change, terrorism, and pandemics, cannot be solved by fighting each other but by acting together.
• India will hold about 200 meetings in 32 different sectors in multiple locations across India.
• The PM noted the previous 17 Presidencies of the G20 delivered significant results.
• Citing India’s theme – ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, PM Modi said India’s G20 Presidency will work to promote this universal sense of one-ness. (here)
• President Biden looks forward to supporting India’s G20 presidency, says White House
• G20 University connect program begins in Delhi, India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 coordinator was present among others.
• “How do u manage contradiction…that is a challenge for diplomacy. It is a more particular challenge for bigger countries. Our Political, security, digital..will be a different combination“, says EAM Jaishankar; he Adds,” the world is very polarized“
• According to a senior official, 100 ASI sites, including those listed under UNESCO, will be lit up for a week.

Record seizure of cash, jewellery, drugs worth Rs 750 crore in poll-bound Gujarat: CEC

• Record seizure of cash, jewelry, and drugs worth Rs 750 crore has been made by the Election Commission of India, said Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wed.
• The first phase of elections in Gujarat is going on, in which voting is going on for 89 assembly seats in which 2.39 Cr voters cast their vote.
• 27 crore cash has been seized. Liquor worth Rs 15 crore has been seized, while alcohol is banned in Gujarat. Drugs worth 60 crores have been seized.
• Kumar added that even today a big seizure of around 450 cr is going on in Vadodara.
• DRI, Income Tax, ATS Gujarat, and Police, all worked very diligently, he added. (here)
• Opinion polls conducted in the lead-up to the Gujarat polls projected the BJP to comfortably retain power in the state.
• The Aam Aadmi Party, which was formed only a decade ago and has claimed power in Delhi and the state of Punjab, is set to become one of the main opposition parties in Gujarat at the expense of Congress. (here)

US, Britain and India remain silent about death of Jiang Zemin

• A round of condolences for China at a UNSC meeting on Wed, after the death of former president Jiang Zemin, put into sharp relief the fraught state of relations between Beijing and the US, India, and Britain.
• Serving as the council’s president for Nov, the head of Ghana’s mission to the UN, Ambassador Harold Agyeman, expressed “deepest sympathy” to Beijing on behalf of the UNSC.
• Later, it voted on a resolution declaring the proliferation of nuclear weapons “a threat to international peace and security”.
• While the resolution passed unanimously, the envoys from Russia, Mexico UAE, and 3 others prefaced their remarks with condolences, but Washington, Delhi, and London did not. (here)

World leaders head to Sydney in bid to push back on China

• Three of the world’s most powerful leaders – US President Joe Biden, Indian PM Narendra Modi, and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida – will travel to Sydney next year for a QUAD with PM Anthony Albanese.
• The two news agencies confirmed the development.
• The Quad has emerged as a key vehicle for the 4 democratic member nations to collectively push back China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific.
• Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has decried the grouping as an “Indo-Pacific NATO”, accusing it of “trumpeting the Cold War mentality”.
• Sources said, while plans are still being finalized, the summit is expected to be held in late May or early June following the G7 summit in Japan.
• The govt set aside $23 million for the summit in the Oct budget, reflecting the significant logistical and security challenges involved in running the event. (here)

GST collection up 11% more than Rs 1.45 trn in Nov, gains from imports

• The govt collected more than Rs 1.45 trillion as goods and services tax (GST) in Nov, an 11% rise year-on-year and driven by higher revenues from imports.
• The revenues for Nov are 11% higher than the GST revenues last year, which itself was Rs. 1.31,526 crore.
• During the month, revenues from the import of goods were 20% higher and domestic transactions (including the import of services) is 8% higher the last year.
• It is the 9^th month straight that monthly GST revenue has been more than Rs 1.4 trillion.
• Of the total gross GST mop-up in Nov, central GST was Rs 25,681 crore, state GST Rs 32,651 crore, integrated GST Rs 77,103 crore, and cess was Rs 10,433 crore.
• The total revenue of the Centre and the States after regular settlements in the month stood at Rs 59678 crore for CGST and Rs 61189 crore for the SGST.
• In addition, the Centre had also released Rs 17,000 crore as GST compensation to states during the month. (here)

NSO released GDP numbers for the quarter ending Sept 2022 on Nov 30

• The National Statistical Office released GDP numbers for the quarter ending Sept 2022 on Nov 30 showing that the growth for the 2^nd quarter is 6.3%.
• This is exactly what the Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI projected in its Sept resolution.
• The base effect is over: 2 back-to-back disruptions because of the pandemic double waves have introduced a complicated base effect in the quarterly GDP numbers.
• Even the MPC, which was spot on in its GDP projection for the Sept quarter, expects growth in the Dec 2022 and Mar 2023 quarters to be just 4.6%.
• The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing is more likely to track formal sector activity while the GDP numbers are more representative of all activity.
• However, the manufacturing sub-component of Gross Value Added (GVA) contracted by 4.3% on an annual basis in the September quarter.
• Robust agricultural growth does not seem to be helping rural wages. (here)

India to receive over record USD 100 billion in remittances in 2022: World Bank

• Retaining its spot as the world’s top recipient of remittances, migrant workers from India are set to send home a record $100 billion in 2022, despite global headwinds.
• In its latest Migration and Development Brief, World Bank said remittance flows to India will rise 12%, putting its inflows ahead of China, Mexico, and the Philippines.
• In 2022, for the first time a single country, India is on track to receive more than $100 billion in yearly remittances,” the World Bank said in a statement. (here)

American special representative on Afghanistan to visit India this week

• The US special envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas West, will visit India this week to discuss Indian interlocutors on the humanitarian crisis and shared security concerns.
• This will be West’s third visit to India since he was appointed in Oct 2021 to replace Zalmay Khalilzad.
• West is expected to meet officials in the external affairs ministry and the National Security Council during his visit.
• West will travel to Japan, India, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during Dec 1-8, the US statement department said on Thu.
• West’s visit comes at a time when attacks by the IS-Khorasan Province (ISKP) have significantly increased, especially against Afghanistan’s Shia Hazara minority.
• India has been increasingly concerned about Afghan territory being used for sheltering, training, and planning terrorist attacks. (here)

Anti-radicalisation Cell a proactive step to control terrorism, riots: Amit Shah

• The reasoning behind creating an “anti-radicalization cell” in Gujarat, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thu said that it is a proactive step to control terrorism and riots.
• Notably, the BJP in its manifesto has promised to create an Anti-Radicalisation Cell to identify and eliminate potential threats and sleeper cells of terrorists.
• The BJP has highlighted the issues of terrorism and communal riots in their campaigning in Gujarat. (here)

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

Pakistan asks Russia for 30-40% discount on crude oil

• Russia refused to give Pakistan a 30-40% discount on Russian crude oil, saying that it could not offer anything right now as all volumes were committed, The News reported Thu. 

• Russian side promises to consider the demand of Pakistan.
• Sources say Russia can offer crude at rates it is providing to its large client countries.
• The talks ended with no cogent conclusion but the Russian side promised to consider Pakistan’s demand and to share its mind later on through diplomatic channels.
• The Russian side asked Pakistan to first honor its commitment to the flagship project of the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline to be laid down from Karachi to Lahore, Punjab. (here)

Rise in terror alarming but won’t get out of control: Rana Sanaullah

• Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Thu that while the rise in terror incidents was alarming, it would not get “out of control”.
• “It is not worrying […] Don’t think that this is going out of control or that some group will become out of reach,” he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
• At the same time, the minister raised alarm over the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claiming responsibility for the suicide attack in Quetta yesterday.
• The TTP claiming responsibility for the attack was both “alarming and condemnable,” he said, adding that the TTP’s activities posed a danger to regional peace. (here)

China-EU relations: Xi meets European Council President, pledges supply chain cooperation

• EU and Chinese leaders met on Thu for their 1^st face-to-face engagement since the pandemic, covering a range of thorny economic and geopolitical issues, but pledging to cooperate on matters of global importance.
• In remarks released by Beijing after a 3-hour meeting between Xi Jinping and European Council President Charles Michel.
• Xi said China would work to ensure supply chain stability and threw his support behind the EU’s mediation efforts over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Michel seeking to recalibrate ties, told his host the meeting was an opportunity to address the “multiple crises” confronting the world, “as well as the full breadth of the EU-China relationship”, according to a statement released by his spokesman.
• Under pressure from EU lawmakers and diplomats to deliver a tough message in Beijing, Michel also discussed human rights records and was concerned about its handling of recent protests in response to Covid-19 controls. (here)