INDIA, US DECIDE TO ELEVATE TIES, BE GLOBAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSUS President Donald Trump, on his first State visit to India, and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi decided Tuesday to elevate ties between theircountries to a "comprehensive global strategic partnership", giving itbroader scope and scale.Trump, who held bilateral talks with Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi,announced a defence deal of more than USD 3 billion under which India willbuy US military equipment including MH-60R naval and AH-64E Apachehelicopters.While no trade deal was signed, Modi said Trump and he had agreed toinitiate negotiations for a bigger deal. Trump, on his part, said they havemade "tremendous progress" on a comprehensive trade agreement and he isoptimistic they will reach a deal.They added the Haqqani network and Tehrik-e-Taliban in Pakistan (TTP) to thelist of terror groups against whom they "called for concerted action".Denouncing "any use of terrorist proxies" and strongly condemningcross-border terrorism in all its forms, they called on Pakistan to "ensurethat no territory under its control is used to launch terrorist attacks, andto expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks,including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot".The US reaffirmed support for India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group"without any delay", and the two sides supported "an Afghan-led andAfghan-owned peace and reconciliation process that results in a sustainablepeace; cessation of violence; elimination of terrorist safe havens; andpreservation of the gains of the last 18 years".On trade, Modi said: "As far as bilateral trade is concerned, our Commerceministers have had very positive discussions. President Trump and I, we haveboth agreed that the understanding reached by our Commerce ministers willtake it forward to give it legal shape. We have also agreed to initiatenegotiations for a bigger deal. We are confident that this will yield goodresults that will be in our mutual interest."Trump said: "Another major focus of my discussions with Prime Minister Modiis forging bilateral economic relationships that is fair and reciprocal. Ourteams have made tremendous progress on a comprehensive trade agreement and Iam optimistic we can reach a deal that will be of great importance to bothcountries."On terrorism, Trump said that in their discussions "Prime Minister Modi andI affirmed our two countries' commitment to protecting our citizens fromradical Islamic terrorism. In this effort, the United States is also workingproductively with Pakistan to confront terrorists who operate on its soil."

BIHAR FIRST NDA STATE TO SAY NO TO NRC, NEW NPR FORMATThe BJP, which is part of the JD(U)-led ruling alliance in Bihar, becameparty to an unanimous resolution of the state Assembly Tuesday againstimplementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) - the first NDAstate to do so - and in favour of the National Population Register (NPR)exercise only under the 2010 format which did not include questions relatingto the date of birth and place of parents and last residential address ofthe individual.Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who on January 4announced that the NPR exercise in the state would be conducted between May15 and May 28, was present in the House Tuesday when the resolution wasadopted unanimously.Later, he said: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already clarified thatthere would be no NRC. Now, Assembly has unanimously passed a resolutionthat NRC would not be implemented and NPR would be implemented as per 2010format. There is no need to produce any document in proof of anything.Assembly resolution is so clear that nobody will now get a chance to misleadpeople on citizenship and do politics over it."In the Assembly, Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar said thecentral government, in any case, had no plan to implement the NRC. He saidhis government had already requested the Centre to implement the new NPRaccording to the 2010 format.On the CAA, he said now that it had become a central Act, it was a subjectof the Constitition. "It has gone before the Supreme Court and the courtalone will decide if it is Constitutional or not. I would request all not tostart an unnecessary debate on it. The Supreme Court will decide if CAA isright or wrong," he said.

IN MALAYSIA, RACE TO FORM GOVT, EYES ON MAHATHIRThe political guessing game continues in Malaysia a day after Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad's abrupt resignation, prolonging the atmosphere ofuncertainty in the nation of more than 30 million people.While Mahathir stays on as premier in an interim capacity without a cabinet,efforts are under way on Tuesday to find the country's next leader.Now there are questions whether the 94-year-old leader will make anothercomeback, or will his would-be successor, Anwar Ibrahim, cobble enoughsupport from a fractious coalition to become the next prime minister.But the possibility of a dissolution of the parliament, which paves the wayfor new elections has also emerged.Malaysia's king is holding meetings with all members of parliament onTuesday and Wednesday to determine who the majority wants to support andform a new government.POLL TO 55 RS SEATS ON MARCH 26The Election Commission today announced the scheduled for biennial electionsfor 55 seats in Rajya Sabha from across 17 states, as polling and countingof votes would take place on March 26.In an official release, the Election Commission said 51 of the total 55seats from 17 states are falling vacant in April due to retirement ofsitting members, while four seats are already vacant on account ofresignations by MPs.An analysis of the respective strength of Assemblies in 17 states, whereelections are scheduled to be held, indicate that the ruling BJP and theopposition Congress are expected to win most of the seats, which they willbe vacating, but their respective strength in the House will be marginallydiminished. But the TMC and the YSR Congress Party are expected to makesignificant gains in the 245-member Upper House after the March 26elections.ARMY WRITES TO DEFENCE, HOME MINISTRIES OVER COMBAT DRESS OF POLICE,PARAMILITARYAfter photographs of paramilitary or state police personnel in Jaffrabad,Delhi wearing "Army pattern" combat uniforms surfaced on social media, theArmy has requested the Defence Ministry and Home Ministry to issueguidelines that combat dress is not be worn while handling law and ordersituations, or in urban areas affected by terrorism.Sources said the Army, in a letter to the Defence Ministry on Monday, saidthat "combat dress should not be worn" by paramilitary forces "while beingemployed to handle law & order situations as also while being deployed inurban areas affected by terrorism, as the surroundings do not demand such arequirement". It also said that "use of distinctly different (both in colourand pattern) disruptive dress by CAPFs and State Police forces should berestricted only to employment in jungle terrain in Left Wing Extremismaffected areas".The Army has also asked the Defence Ministry to convey the same to the HomeMinistry.The letter states, "As bullet proof jackets cover most parts of the torso,those of the CAPFs and State Police forces should be of plain Khaki colourand not of combat colour."Further, "sale of Army pattern clothes in the open market needs to beregulated" and private vendors in open market "should establish identity andmaintain a record of personnel to whom the Army pattern clothes are beingsold", the letter said, mentioning a proposal by the Home Ministry in March2016.There has been an increasing trend of paramilitary and state policepersonnel wearing combat uniforms, which are barely distinguishable from theone worn by the Army. As the country is under glare of the national andinternational media, the Army does not want the idea to be projected that itis being deployed for internal security.CBSE POSTPONES WEDNESDAY'S CLASS 10, 12 EXAMS IN NE DELHIThe CBSE on Tuesday postponed Class 10, 12 exams in northeast Delhischeduled on Wednesday, officials said. Exams in remaining areas will beheld as per schedule, they added.There are a total of 86 centres in northeast Delhi. While Class 10 studentshad English exam, Class 12 students had optional exams, including WebApplication and Media."The exam will be conducted in rest parts of Delhi as per earlier schedule.A fresh date for the exam in northeast Delhi will be announced shortly," aCBSE official said on Tuesday.SATYA NADELLA CALLS FOR DIVERSE TEAMS TO PROTECT AI FROM BIASThat artificial intelligence (AI) applications can be sometimes be biased isno longer unusual, and when that happens, Microsoft - one of the biggestproponents of AI - has a lot to worry about. But Satya Nadella, theMicrosoft CEO, also has a simple solution to do away with such biases.Currently on a three-day visit to India, the Hyderabad-born Nadella saysit's not the AI engine, but the teams that build it as well as thealgorithms to make it intelligent have to be diverse and inclusive, so thatthe solutions they build do not show up any sort of 'unconscious bias' thatthey may have."One of the best things you can do to have ethics around AI and to protect(it) from bias, would be to have diverse teams," said Nadella, speaking atthe company's 'Future Decoded' tech summit in Bengaluru on Tuesday."If there is one thing that is going to be the real currency for the next 10years, is how diverse and inclusive your teams that are building thesetechnologies are. There is no protection against unconscious human bias,other than diversity," he added.INDICATORSSensex 40,281 (-82), Nifty 11,813 (-16), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores)36,871Nasdaq 8,966 (-256) Dow 27,081 (-879), S&P 3,128 (-98)US$-Rs. 71.84 GBP-Rs. 93.18, Euro-Rs. 78.02, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.55, Can$-Rs.54.06, Aus$- Rs. 47.44GBP 0.77 /US$, Euro 0.92 /US$, Jap.Yen 110.48 /US$, Aus$ 1.51 /US$, Sing1.39 /US$, Bang Taka 83.16 /US$, Can$ 1.32 /US$, Mal Ring 4.23 /US$,Pak Re 153.53 /US$, Phil Peso 50.99 /US$, Russian Rouble 65.21 /US$, NZ$1.57 /US$, Thai Baht 31.67 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 24.23 /US$, Norway NOK 9.35/US$Bitcoin - USD 9.495Dollar Index 99.04 Brent Crude 55.18 BDI 506Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,640 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,225 /4,125, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 52,700THOUGHT FOR THE DAYSelf-sacrifice enables us to sacrifice other people without blushing. -George Bernard ShawOFF TRACKA young man, hired by a supermarket, reported for his first day of work. Themanager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him a broom andsaid, "Your first job will be to sweep out the store.""But I'm a college graduate." the young man replied indignantly."Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," said the manager. "Here, give me thebroom, I'll show you how."