The government on Thursday suspended the Free Movement Regime between India and Myanmar – an arrangement that allows people from either nation to enter up to 16km without travel documents – Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on X (formerly Twitter)

“It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “resolve to secure our borders,” Mr Shah posted, adding, “Ministry of Home Affairs has decided Free Movement Regime (will) be scrapped to ensure the internal security of the country, and to maintain demographic structure of north-eastern states.”

The decision comes two days after Mr Shah said India will fence the entire 1,643-km border with Myanmar and build a patrolling track next to the barrier.

The announcement comes amid the ethnic violence in Manipur between the hill-majority Kuki-Zo tribes, who share ethnic ties with communities in Myanmar’s Chin State, and the valley-majority Meiteis.

Shortly after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge released a ‘black paper’, highlighting the government’s “failures”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded that the Opposition party’s move was like a “kaala tika” for his government that will ward off the evil eye.

The Congress this morning published a ‘black paper’ to counter the ‘white paper’ Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table in Parliament. Ms Sitharaman had announced in her budget speech the white paper will be tabled “to look at where we were till 2014 and where we are now”. The only objective behind this move, she said, “was to draw lessons from the mismanagement of those years”.

Releasing the black paper this morning, Mr Kharge said, “The government will never say how many people got jobs. They are releasing MGNREGA funds. They are discriminating against states,” Mr Kharge said. Countering the Centre’s attack on Congress ideologues Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, he said, “You are ruling today, what have you done to control inflation today?”

“The Modi government’s tenure is marked by high rates of unemployment, economic catastrophes, such as demonetisation and flawed GST, which have only increased the divide between the rich & the poor and devastated the future of millions of farmers and daily wage workers,” the black paper states.

Soon after Congress released the document, Prime Minister Modi walked into Rajya Sabha to bid farewell to MPs whose term is about to end. Addressing the House, he said, “Kharge ji is here. If a child does something good, if a child gets ready for a special occasion and puts on nice clothes, someone in the family puts a ‘kaala tika’ to ward off the evil eye. Over the past 10 years, the country is climbing new summits of prosperity. To ensure we are safe from the evil eye, an attempt has been made to put a ‘kaala tika’. I want to thank Kharge ji for that,” the Prime Minister said in a sarcastic response to the Congress move.

The Prime Minister praised his predecessor Manmohan Singh and lauded him for his contributions to Parliament and the country. He also referred to a recent vote in the Upper House for which the 91-year-old leader turned up in a wheelchair. “I remember, during the voting, it was known that the treasury bench would win but Dr Manmohan Singh came on his wheelchair and cast his vote. This an example of a member being alert of his duties. It was an inspirational example,” he said. The Prime Minister was referring to the vote on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

The Bill — now an Act — was to consolidate the Centre’s control on Delhi officers. The Congress was backing AAP in the vote and the former Prime Minister had come on a wheelchair. The BJP had responded by targeting the Congress, saying it “shameful” that the nonagenarian was made to wait in the House till late.

The Reserve Bank of India today said that the clampdown on Paytm Payments Bank was a result of persistent non-compliance of the regulator’s norms. RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan J said that they are monitoring Paytm Payments Bank and will take suitable steps as warranted going forward.

Addressing the media, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also said the strict action was taken keeping in mind the gravity of the violation.

“All actions of RBI are in best interest of systemic stability, protection of customers’ interest. Restrictions are always proportionate to the gravity of the situation,” Mr Das said.

“When constructive engagement doesn’t work we go for imposing business restrictions,” the Governor added.

Shaktikanta Das said that he cannot disclose the granular details of the case, but will issue a FAQ by next week as they have received several queries from the public.

The RBI last week ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting new deposits in its accounts or popular digital wallets beginning March, citing supervisory concerns and non-compliance with rules.

Hundreds of accounts created on Paytm Payments Bank without proper identification were one of the major reasons for the Reserve Bank of India to impose stringent curbs on the company. These accounts with inadequate Know-Your-Customer (KYC) conducted transactions worth crores of rupees on the platform, leading to fears of potential money laundering.

More than 1,000 users were found to have linked the same Permanent Account Number (PAN) to their accounts. The compliance submitted by the bank was found to be incorrect during verification processes conducted by both the RBI and auditors.