DELHI REACHES OUT TO DHAKA FOR TIES BEYOND ‘STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP’

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh later this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a strong outreach to Dhaka Thursday on his bilateral visit, describing the country as a “key neighbour” and a “valued partner” not only “in South Asia but also in the broader Indo-Pacific region”. He said India’s ties with Bangladesh “transcend even our strategic partnership”.

The visits have been timed with celebrations to mark 50 years of the 1971 liberation war that led to the birth of Bangladesh.

On his first visit since the CAA-NRC issue became a sticking point between the two countries, Jaishankar reached Dhaka Thursday morning and framed Bangladesh’s importance as being central to India’s “neighbourhood first” policy and its growing relevance in the “Act East” policy.

Indicating the frank conversations he had with his Bangladesh counterpart, Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen, Jaishankar said: “Our comfort levels are now so high that we have shown that there is no issue that we cannot discuss and resolve through amicable dialogue.”

Later, he also met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her residence. She told him that problems between neighbouring countries should be resolved through discussions and negotiations.

Jaishankar described the socio-economic progress of Bangladesh as a “reflection of the statesmanship and leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina”.

With Modi scheduled to visit Dhaka around March 25-26, Jaishankar said they were working to make it a “very memorable visit” — it would be the Prime Minister’s first visit outside India since the pandemic and his second as Prime Minister to Bangladesh. He will be visiting Bangladesh as both countries mark the Mujib Barsho, 50 years of Bangladesh’s Liberation and 50 years of bilateral relations.

ASCERTAINING FACTS ON USE OF PM PHOTO ON VACCINE CERTIFICATES: EC

The Election Commission has asked the Health Ministry for the “factual position” regarding the Trinamool Congress’s complaint against the use of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo on Covid vaccination certificates.

“We want to ascertain the facts first. For instance, whether these certificates are indeed being distributed on the instructions of the Health Ministry. As a matter of routine, we always seek a response from all the involved parties in such complaints,” said an EC official.sought a report from its state Chief Electoral Officer on the matter.

This week, the TMC had approached the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer alleging that the use of PM’s photo is a “blatant misuse of official machinery” and violates the Model Code of Conduct.

SENA BACKS MAMATA; ADHIR SAYS SP, RJD, SENA HAVEN’T FACED ‘TMC TERROR’

After RJD and Samajwadi Party, the Shiv Sena on Thursday said that it prefers to back TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over the Congress and Left parties in the battle royale in West Bengal.

The Congress is part of the Sena-led govt in Maharashtra.

The Congress sought to play down the development, with party leaders saying that “all these parties don’t have any stake or vote base in West Bengal.”

Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday stated that at the moment, it appears to be a ‘Didi versus all’ fight in Bengal. “All ‘M’s – Money, Muscle and Media- are being used against ‘M’amata Didi. Hence, Shiv Sena has decided not to contest West Bengal polls & stand in solidarity with her,” Raut tweeted.

West Bengal Congress president and leader of the party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said decisions by regional parties from other states to back Banerjee is based on their perception and he would not blame them. “There are different perceptions. Parties like ours in Bengal are the victims of the atrocities and terror perpetrated by TMC. Our pain is different. It is difficult for parties like ours to survive in Bengal given the kind of terror the TMC has unleashed,” Chowdhury said.

Parties like Shiv Sena, SP or RJD have not faced or don’t have to face Trinamool atrocities, he said – “in their states, they are facing atrocities of BJP. So the perceptions are different.”

INDIA FOR INCLUSION OF CHABAHAR PORT IN INSTC ROUTE, SAYS JAISHANKAR

India has proposed inclusion of Chabahar port in the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) route, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, and expressed hope that member-states involved with INSTC will agree on expanding membership of this project.

In his address on ‘Chabahar Day’ at the Maritime India Summit, Jaishankar said the shift in the fulcrum of global economic growth towards Asia is creating unprecedented opportunities for connectivity in the region. He asserted that the marking of Chabahar Day by India reflects its strong commitment to enhancing regional connectivity.

The INSTC is a key trade corridor project, wherein India is partnering with 12 countries to establish an economic corridor, he said. The Corridor is a 7,200-km multi-mode transport project to move freight among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

IMRAN TO SEEK VOTE OF CONFIDENCE TOMORROW AFTER SENATE SETBACK

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said he will seek a vote of confidence in the National Assembly on Saturday following the defeat of finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh against former PM Yousaf Raza Gilani in the hotly contested Senate polls on Islamabad seat.

In an address to the nation, Khan said some lawmakers of his Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf had sold their votes after accepting money. He alleged opposition parties had gained those votes. “I am now going to the parliament for a vote of confidence,” he said. He lashed out at the opposition for “making a mockery of democracy”. “The one who wants to become a senator uses money and who do they buy? Members of the parliament… What joke is happening with our democracy?”

Khan said he had started a campaign for open ballot for Senate polls. He recalled that in the 2018 Senate elections 20 PTI lawmakers had sold their votes. “We expelled them... but then I saw it wasn’t just me saying this, but the two main parties — PML-N and PPP — also agreed that there should be open ballot because money is exchanged in the elections.”

The PM said the opposition planned to “use money” to “break our party apart”. “The real objective was to hang the sword of a vote of confidence over my head and blackmail me, so I give them an NRO,” he said.

NRO refers to the National Reconciliation Order under which the late Benazir Bhutto (and many others) were able to return to Pakistan from exile as cases against them were dropped. The term is now used to describe an attempt to use an ordinance to allow someone to escape the legal process. As expected, a hung Senate emerged after Wednesday’s polls as the opposition and the ruling alliances now have 53 and 47 members, respectively, in the Senate which now has a strength of 100 members.

MEGHAN MARKLE ACCUSES PALACE OF PERPETUATING FALSEHOODS

Meghan Markle says Buckingham Palace is “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and her husband Prince Harry, according to part of an interview she has done with Oprah Winfrey. In the clip released on Wednesday night, Winfrey asks Meghan: “How do you feel about the palace hearing you speak your truth today?” “I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent if there’s an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us,” Markle replies. “The Firm” is a sometimes-derisive name for the British royal family.

In a clip released by US broadcaster CBS earlier this week Harry — who has frequently bemoaned press intrusion — said he was worried about “history repeating itself ”, in an apparent reference to the death of his mother. Diana died in a high speed car crash after being relentlessly pursued by photographers through Paris.

THE REST

========

SIX STATES FUEL SURGE IN COVID CASES

Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka continue to report a surge in daily new Covid-19 cases, accounting for 85.51 per cent of fresh cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The active caseload surged to 1,73,413 after an addition of 17,407 cases over the past 24 hours. The no. of Active cases had been declining steadily since 18th Sep last year when it peaked at a little over a million. On 12th Feb this year, this number came down to about 1.33 lakhs. But since then, it has been steadily rising again.

The number of people with new virus strain from the UK, South Africa and Brazil rose to 242 yesterday, amid concerns of further rise in mutation cases. Stressing speedy vaccination, the Health Ministry said India-made Covaxin had shown effectiveness against the new variants.

Overall 1.77 crore vaccine doses had been administered till Thursday morning. These include 2,18,939 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific comorbidities and 14,95,016 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years. On the 47th day of the vaccination drive, nearly 11 lakh vaccine doses were given.

In good news, 23 states and UTs have not reported any Covid deaths in 24 hours. These include Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, J&K, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Assam, Lakshadweep, Nagaland, Sikkim, Ladakh, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

Over the last 7 days, India has seen 103 Covid deaths on an average per day

KERALA ELECTIONS: ‘METRO MAN’ E SREEDHARAN IS BJP’S CM CANDIDATE

Metro man E Sreedharan would be the BJP’s chief minister candidate for the assembly elections slated for next month, the party’s Kerala unit chief K Surendran said on Thursday. Sreedharan, 88, joined the BJP last week.

Sreedharan said he has not chosen the constituency yet. “I am ready to contest in any seat and victory is sure for me. I strongly believe that the BJP would come to power. However, I want to contest from a constituency, which is not far away from Ponnani in Malappuram, where I am residing now,’’ he said.

Sreedharan said he would not go for conventional door-to-door campaigning. “I won’t go to houses and shops soliciting votes. But, my message would reach the voters,” he said in Kochi.

Sreedharan said he will showcase his professional competency and integrity among the voters to win their support.

INDUSTRY: HARYANA QUOTA LAW WILL SLOW RECOVERY, CUT JOBS, BRING INSPECTOR RAJ

The move by the Haryana govt requiring that locals — born in the state or living there for fifteen years — account for 75% of all hiring by companies in jobs with gross salary under Rs 50,000 per month will potentially slow the post-Covid economic recovery, increase compliance burden and usher in an “inspector raj,” says a cross-section of industry representative.

The new rules specifically empower the district administrations to enforce the new regulations through inspections with a 24-hour notice.

Industry players are unanimous in calling the move “regressive” and pointed to how the lack of a sufficiently large qualified domestic workforce in Haryana made the implementation of the new act “impractical”.

Sunjay Kapur, chairman of auto parts manufacturer Sona Comstar, and a past chairman of the Haryana chapter of CII, said that industry was in talks with the Haryana govt seeking a relook at the legislation.

The Andhra Pradesh assembly in 2019 passed a similar law, which has subsequently been challenged in courts.

FLEDGLING STEPS TOWARDS SELF DEPENDENCY IN CARGO CONTAINERS

Aiming to free the country’s dependency on China and other foreign players in the logistics sector, India in a first such effort has begun the process of manufacturing cargo containers indigenously through two state-owned heavy-engineering behemoths.

Braithwaite and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited have received developmental orders from Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), which owns 85 per cent of the container movements market, to try and make 1,000 containers each.

India has currently no capability to manufacture its own cargo containers. They are all manufactured by foreign players, mainly Chinese.

“In China, they have integrated the container manufacturers and steelmakers, which gives them a huge advantage. Here that is not the case. We have to do a lot of backward integration. We are developing one by one. By end of March, we will be able to provide the first prototype,” says Yatish Kumar, chairman and managing director of Braithwaite.

EASE OF LIVING INDEX 2020: BENGALURU TOPS LIST

Among Indian cities with a population of more than a million, Bengaluru has been rated the most liveable city in India in the govt's "Ease of Living Index". The IT capital of India has pushed the earlier top ranker Pune to number two, while Ahmedabad ranked the third among 111 other cities.

"Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the Million+ category [in category of 'population more than million], followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai," a PIB press release said.

OVER RS 650 CR DISCREPANCIES FOUND AFTER RAIDS ON PANNU, KASHYAP AND OTHERS, CLAIMS IT DEPT

The Income Tax Department continued its searches on entities connected with actor Taapsee Pannu and film-maker Anurag Kashyap as well as his partners linked to production house Phantom Films Pvt Ltd for the second day.

About 168 tax officials have been searching 28 locations in Mumbai and Pune in connection with the alleged tax evasion by firms connected to Kashyap, his former business partners, Pannu and two talent management firms Kwan Entertainment and Exceed Entertainment.

The tax agency has allegedly found discrepancies of about Rs 650 crore.

The raids had elicited strong response from the Maharashtra state govt which called it an attempt by the Centre using agencies to intimidate those who spoke out against the BJP govt. Both Kashyap and Pannu have been critical of the ruling party and the Centre and questioned policies, including the NRC, CAA and, most recently, the farm laws, on social media.

SC FAVOURS SCREENING OF OTT CONTENT

The Supreme Court on Thursday favoured “screening” of content aired over over-the-top (OTT) media platforms and asked the Centre to produce the recently-notified guidelines for such services.

“Traditional film viewing has become obsolete. People watching films on these platforms has become common. Should there not be some screening? We feel there should be some screening… At times they are showing pornography too,” observed Justice Ashok Bhushan, heading a two-judge bench. The court was hearing a plea by Aparna Purohit, Amazon Head of India Originals, challenging the Allahabad High Court order denying her anticipatory bail in connection with FIRs lodged over the Tandav web series.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said there was “filthy” content “with abuses” on the platforms.

The court then asked the SG to circulate the Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which provides for regulation of content on OTT platforms.

OVER 51.7% URBAN ADULTS PHYSICALLY INACTIVE: ICMR

More than half of urban Indian adults are putting in less than 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, an ICMR survey on the national non-communicable disease (NCD) estimates has shown. Rural India is fitter than urban India when measured on most indicators of health, but high blood pressure among villagers on the rise.

The National NCD Monitoring Survey shows the prevalence of risk factors among adults aged 18 to 69 years. Published today, it says 51.7 per cent urban adults are physically inactive compared to 36.1% rural adults. Overall prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults is 26.1 per cent.

A higher percentage of adults in urban areas (42.5%) were found overweight as against 18% in rural India. While 11.2% of city people were obese, the corresponding percentage among rural adults was 3.7%. Higher prevalence of raised blood pressure was found in 34% urban respondents and 25.7% rural respondents while raised blood glucose was seen in 14.4 per cent urban and 6.9 per cent rural Indians.

ENGLAND BOWLED OUT FOR 205

England’s batsmen lost the battle in both mind and skills with yet another shoddy performance to surrender the momentum to India on Day 1 of the fourth and final Test. Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin called the shots on the opening day of the match, which India must draw or win to qualify for the World Test Championship final.

England won the toss again and managed to cross the 200-run mark, for the first time since the first innings of the first Test in Chennai. However, a total of 205 all out is certainly not what captain Joe Root expected after electing to bat in good batting conditions.

There was some turn and bounce but the pitch was not a minefield that the England batsmen — except Ben Stokes, who made 55 off 121 balls — made it out to be.

For India, Axar Patel (4/68), Ashwin (3/47) and Washington Sundar (1/14) toyed with the visiting batsmen, whose confidence has been shattered by regular failures on turning wickets.

Mohammed Siraj played his part, removing Root and Jonny Bairstow with balls that came in, to finish with 2/45.

India were 24/1 at stumps, with the wily old James Anderson having dismissed Shubman Gill for 0. Rohit Sharma (8) and Cheteshwar Pujara (15) were the unbeaten batsmen.

INDICATORS

Sensex 50,846 (-599), Nifty 15,081 (-165), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 80913.59

Nasdaq 12,723 (-274) Dow 30,924 (-346), S&P 3,768 (-51)

US$-Rs. 72.84 GBP-Rs. 101.51, Euro-Rs. 8.59, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.82, Can$-Rs. 57.57, Aus$- Rs. 56.60

GBP 0.71 /US$, Euro 0.83 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.42 /US$, Aus$ 1.28 /US$, Sing 1.33 /US$, Bang Taka 83.30 /US$, Can$ 1.26 /US$, Mal Ring 4.05 /US$,

Pak Re 156.60 /US$, Phil Peso 48.53 /US$, Russian Rouble 73.93 /US$, NZ$ 1.38 /US$, Thai Baht 30.34 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.60 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 46,736

Dollar Index 91.67 Brent Crude 67.25  BDI 1763

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,694 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,490 / 4,390, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 71,600

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Before I can live with other folks, I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. - Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)

OFF TRACK

A kind-hearted motorist saw a man struggling to change a tire alongside the highway, and pulled over to see whether he could help. Close to the man changing the tire stood an immaculately neat woman who was speaking in quick, agitated tones.

"Hello, there," said the motorist. "Say, I've changed a lot of tires..... maybe I can help here."

"You sure can," the man with the flat tire replied wearily. "My wife is an expert, too. If you will just do all the arguing with her about how this tire ought to be changed, I will concentrate on the dirty work and get the job done."