News behind The News – 24 May, 2021

POLITY

• BJP’s popularity will be tested in U.P. next year

• Difficult Times for BJP - From within and without

• The RSS has reasons to be worried about the BJP

• India’s overwhelmed public health system crying for reforms

DEFENCE

• Minister reviews efforts in fighting Covid-19

• Overdoing leasing puts a strain on the stretched budget

• Disengagement not de-escalation along LAC : Army Chief

NEIGHBOURS

• China’s Assertive Diplomacy in S. Asia: Worries for India and Neighbours

• India - China:  Building the strategic road infrastructure

• Covid-19 suspicion on China’s Wuhan Lab: Dangerous Implications

• China should approve Dalai Lama's successor: White Paper

• India - Pakistan: Nuclear Stability

• India-Pakistan ceasefire agreement: Can it last

INTERNATIONAL

• Expert Analyses: Israeli-Palestine Conflict:  Nuanced Statement by India

• Covid-19: International image suffers, but India is too strategic to fail

• Jaishankar for Global Supply Chains Shifting to India

• India-EU Summit: New dynamics and an FTA in the making

ECONOMY

• Expert Analyses: Covid impact: Economists see a ‘Demand Shock’

• ‘Dream’ budget did not account for a crippling second wave

STATE OF THE ECONOMY

• Rs 8,924 cr released to 25 states for combating COVID-19

• Unemployment rate at 14.5%: CMIE

• Wholesale price index based inflation at 10.49 %

POLICY INITIATIVES

• Reimbursement on welfare expenses incurred by multinationals in India outside gamut of tax

INDUSTRY

• COVID-hit businesses may need loan restructuring

• Industry  profits unlikely to survive pandemic

INVESTMENTS

• Industry’s foreign investment  at $2.51 billion in April: RBI