dna Evening Must Reads: Nepal calls off SAARC summit; Congress says Manmohan also carried out surgical strikes; and more

1) SAARC Chair Nepal says environment 'not conducive', says countries should ensure territory not used for terror

Regretting that the regional environment is "not conducive" to host the next SAARC Summit, current Chair of the grouping Nepal today said member states must ensure their territories are not used for cross-border terrorism. Days after India and four other countries pulled out of the 19th SAARC Summit indirectly blaming Pakistan for creating an atmosphere which was not right for successfully holding the event, Nepal said it strongly believes that "an environment of peace and stability is essential for a meaningful regional cooperation". Read more...

2) India has not attacked anyone, not hungry for land: PM Modi

India has not attacked any country and neither is it hungry to grab anyone's land, but its men have made the supreme sacrifice fighting for the national cause and others, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. His comments came in the backdrop of Pakistan's constant clamour for highlighting the Kashmir issue at the international fora.

"India has not attacked anyone. It is neither hungry for land. But in the two World Wars (in which India had no direct stake), 1.5 lakh Indian soldiers had laid down their lives," the Prime Minister said at the inauguration ceremony of the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra.  Read more...

3) Surgical strikes also carried out under Manmohan Singh, we never publicised it: Congress

Asserting that the recent surgical strike by the Indian Army in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) was not the first mission ever, as several of its kind was undertaken during the UPA regime, the Congress on Sunday took a swing at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that his predecessor, Manmohan Singh never 'publicised' such operations. Speaking to ANI Congress leader Rajiv Shukla re-iterated former army chief, General Bikram Singh's statement that such strikes have taken place before as well.

'Such operations have been carried out before, even during the time of Manmohan Singh ji but he never publicised it and kept beating the drum about it. The Army kept doing its job and neutralising terrorists.' Read more...

4) Unfazed by Patna HC order, defiant Nitish issues new liquor law with harsher provisions

Two days after the Patna High Court quashed its order on prohibition, Bihar government on Gandhi Jayanti on Sunday came out with a new law banning liquor with more harsh provisions like arrest of all adults in the event of recovery of the contraband in their house. The government notified the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 to ensure that the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol including Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) as well spiced and domestic liquor continued in the state.

At a special Cabinet convened on Sunday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other members of his Cabinet took a pledge that the government would continue with prohibition which is "ushering positive social change" in the state. Read more...

5) Coast Guard apprehends Pakistani boat off Gujarat coast

Indian Coast Guard ship Samudra Pavak apprehended a Pakistan boat this morning off the Gujarat Coast. The boat, along with its nine crew members, was escorted to Porbandar for a joint investigation. Read more...

6) Brexit: Theresa May to trigger Article 50 for EU exit process by end of March 2017

British Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger the divorce process from the European Union by the end of March, firing the starting gun on the country's biggest shift in policy since World War Two.

May, appointed prime minister shortly after Britain voted in June to leave the bloc, has been under pressure from EU officials, investors and members of her Conservative Party to offer more on her plan for Britain's exit, beyond her catch phrase "Brexit means Brexit". Read more...