LOOK FORWARD TO BEING WITH PEOPLE OF INDIA, GOING TO BE EXCITING: DONALD TRUMPThe government is pulling no stops in rolling out the red carpet for Donald Trump who lands in Ahmedabad at 11.40 today. Setting the stage for the two-day visit, which will cover the Taj Mahal in Agra and bilateral talks in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted Sunday that “India looks forward to welcoming” the US President. “It is an honour that he will be with us tomorrow, starting with the historic programme in Ahmedabad!” he tweeted.Trump, meanwhile, retweeted a meme on him based on a sequence from the blockbuster movie Bahubali, and wrote: “Look so forward to being with my great friends in INDIA!” Later, speaking to reporters outside the White House before his departure, Trump said: “I look forward to being with the people of India. We are going to have many millions and millions of people. It’s a long trip. I get along very well with Prime Minister Modi. He is a friend of mine.”He said: “I had committed to this trip long time ago. I look forward to it. I hear it’s going to be a big event, the biggest event they ever had in India. That’s what the Prime Minister told me. It’s the biggest event they ever had. It’s going to be very exciting. I am going to be there for one night.”In Ahmedabad, the billboards, artistes and stages, apart from thousands of local residents, will greet Trump on the route from the airport to Sabarmati Ashram, where he is expected to spend about 10 minutes to mark the first visit by a US President. He will then head to the newly rebuilt 1.1-lakh capacity Motera cricket stadium for the Namaste Trump event.Trump will leave Ahmedabad for Agra at 3.30 pm and watch the sunset at Taj Mahal from around 5.15 pm — US officials believe Modi will accompany him but there was no confirmation from the Indian side. The US delegation will then head to Delhi for bilateral engagements Tuesday.The high-powered White House delegation includes three of Trump’s family members, and it will be the first time that the First Lady and daughter Ivanka are travelling together on an official visit.BERLIN STARTS CONTROVERSIAL RENT FREEZE ON 1.5 MILLION HOMESBerlin is freezing the rents of 1.5 million apartments for the next five years starting this Sunday in a controversial move to control the exploding costs that have forced many to move outside Germany's capital city.Berlin is the first German city to influence the rental prices so directly and the law has been both celebrated as a step toward more fairness by its supporters and ripped apart as a socialist method by critics.Only a minority of Berliners own their homes or apartments - as in the rest of the country, the majority of people traditionally rent their homes.

AN INDO-US PLAN TO COUNTER CHINA’S REACH WITH BLUE DOT NETWORKWith China moving to expand its strategic footprint through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), India and the US will discuss the Blue Dot network, a new proposal to cover infrastructure and development projects across the region and other countries.The Blue Dot network is “a multi-stakeholder initiative to bring together governments, the private sector and civil society to promote high-quality, trusted standards for global infrastructure development”, sources said. The US, which is leading the proposal, has already got Japan and Australia as partners in this idea.The proposal, which is part of the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy, is aimed at countering Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious One Belt One Road initiative, and is expected to be part of talks over the next two days between visiting US President Donald Trump and PM Narendra Modi.According to American officials, the Blue Dot network is like a “Michelin Guide”, which rates restaurants around the world with stars for excellence, for infrastructure projects.The initiative will evaluate projects on various parameters, including level of public consultation, transparency in funding, debt traps and basic environment norms. Projects that meet the norms will get a “blue dot”, which will enable them to attract private funding and not have to depend on state-funding alone.Under BRI, China’s government and state-owned enterprises finance international projects by providing logistical support — from concrete and steel to workers and cash. This approach, however, has been labelled by some experts as “debt-trap diplomacy”.Blue Dot will be about “supporting alternatives to predatory lending” by facilitating foreign investment in projects that come under this network, sources said. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and NSA Robert O’ Brien have brought along the pointperson for the Blue Dot network in the US system — Adam Boehler, CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC) — as part of the visiting delegation.FOOD DATA RAISES ALERT: INDIANS ARE CONSUMING LESS PULSES AND MILKIs there stagnation in demand for pulses, milk and other protein-rich foods in India? The National Statistical Office (NSO) withheld its household consumption expenditure survey report for 2017-18 but alternative data sources do suggest a slowdown — at least in respect of the ubiquitous dal and doodh.At a global Pulses Conclave held earlier this month in Pune, the overwhelming concern expressed by participants was: Why are we not eating enough pulses?With rising income, the consumption of milk, pulses, eggs and meat had increased, especially among the poor. Flattening demand growth for protein-rich foods suggests incomes aren’t rising as before. But whether consumption is actually slowing will be known only from the next NSO household survey.Saurabh Bhartia of the Indian Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) — the apex organisation of dal millers, traders, exporters and importers that drew up the estimates — is convinced that the apparent demand slowdown is real.SHUBH MANGAL ZYADA SAAVDHAN: AYUSHMANN KHURRANA PULLS IN FANSAyushmann Khurrana's latest release Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, has witnessed growth on its second day at the box office. The film which opened to Rs 9.55 crore on 21 February, made Rs 11.08 crore on Saturday, thus taking its box office collection to Rs 20.63 crore. Trade analysts note that the film is doing well in metros, and is expected to earn over Rs 30 crore during the weekend.Directed by Hitesh Kewalya, the film deals with same-sex relationships, and the social stigma surrounding them. A light-hearted comedy, it can be seen as a progressive attempt towards the acceptance of same-sex couples — an issue that continues to remain a taboo in India even after a year of its decriminalisation by the Supreme Court.The film marks the Bollywood debut of Jitendra Kumar, known for his comedy sketches for The Viral Fever and web shows like Kota Factory. Manurishi Chaddha, Sunita Rajwar, Maanvi Gagroo, Pankhuri Awasthy and Neeraj Singh. Khurrana's Badhaai Ho co-stars Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta, also play pivotal parts in the film.WELLINGTON TEST: NZ WIN BY 10 WICKETSDay 3: After New Zealand’s tail wagged big time to post a good first innings total of 348, the deficit of 183 understandably put India under severe pressure.The Indian batsmen, caught between over-cautiousness and impetuosity, produced yet another inept batting performance to put New Zealand firmly on the driver’s seat at the end of third day’s play in the first Test here on Sunday. At stumps, India reached 144 for 4 in their second innings as the top-order found Trent Boult’s (3/27 in 16 overs) high-quality swing bowling too hot to handle.Going into fourth day, India trailed New Zealand by 39 runs, with 6 wickwets in hand.On day 4, i.e. Monday morning, India could add a mere 47 runs to their overnight score, leaving New Zealand requiring just 9 for a win. They got there in 10 balls, without losing any wicket.This was India’s first defeat in 10 Tests. India’s last Test defeat was in Perth against Australia in December 2018. Since then, the side had won 8 and drawn 1 Tests since then. With the win, New Zealand also earned 60 points in the World Test Championship table to climb into fifth position with 120 points, surpassing Sri Lanka who slip down to 6th position with 80 points. India remained rooted their top position in the table with 360 points, with Australia at 2nd position with 296 points.Scores: India 165 & 191; NZ 348 & 9/0THOUGHT FOR THE DAYYour greatest power comes from the fact that you want tremendously to do a very thing, and do it well. - Amelia Earhart