NCP BACKS DESHMUKH, SAYS HE NEEDN’T QUIT

After a daylong huddle and a late evening meeting that lasted nearly three hours at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence yesterday, party’s Maharashtra chief Jayant Patil said Home Minister Anil Deshmukh won’t resign. “The question of Deshmukh resigning doesn’t arise,” Patil said.

Congress veteran Kamal Nath also met Pawar as the NCP held a series of meetings to mull ways out of the crisis involving Deshmukh whose resignation the BJP has been demanding. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress put up a united face saying the government was stable and “attempts to destabilise it would fail”. Earlier in the day, Pawar came out for damage-control and said the decision on Deshmukh would be taken by CM Uddhav Thackeray by tomorrow. Pawar, chief architect of the 16-month-old MVA, questioned the timing of the letter former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh wrote to the CM accusing Deshmukh of extortion and demands of Rs 100 crore a month from restaurants and bars. “Why did Param Bir Singh write the letter after he was transferred to Home Guard,” asked Pawar, addressing the media here while admitting that the charges were serious and must be probed.

Pawar suggested an independent probe into the allegations by someone “who commands respect both in the police administration and the public at large” and recommended retired IPS officer Julio Rebeiro for the role — Ribeiro, however, described the situation as “very murky” and said he would refuse any such request.

“Neither the CM nor the Home Minister are responsible for reinstatement of Sachin Waze in Mumbai police last year. I have spoken to the CM about the letter but the timing is suspect. It comes after Singh was transferred on March 17 and also after Devendra Fadnavis visited Delhi,” said Pawar. These efforts will fail, said Pawar with the ruling alliance allies expected to meet tomorrow for a final call on whether to replace Deshmukh. A section of NCP leaders said the name of state minister and NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil was under discussion for a replacement, if any.

Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said, “It will not be fair for us to comment. The matter pertains to a minister from that part of the ruling coalition. Even so, the BJP has never answered corruption allegations on its leaders... Karnataka CM BS Yedyurappa is facing grave charges. What has the PM done about it?” said Singhvi.

BANGLADESH RULES OUT SECURITY THREAT TO PM MODI'S VISIT AMID PROTESTS BY 'FEW' LEFT, ISLAMIST GROUPS

Bangladesh has ruled out any security threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to the country later this week and said "few" left wing and hardline Islamist groups are against his trip, but there is "nothing to worry" about them.

Prime Minister Modi will visit Bangladesh from March 26 to 27 to attend the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the country's independence and the birth centenary of its founder ‘Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

This would be his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are proud to invite him (Modi) to Bangladesh… people are with us (the government)," Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters on Saturday night. Momen said "only a few can oppose this visit and let them do it". "There is nothing to worry about  (their protests)," he added.

Prime Minister Modi and heads of state and government from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives will be among the distinguished foreign guests to join the celebrations under separate schedules.

COVID CASES CONTINUE TO RISE

With the daily new Covid cases touching a high of 46,996 on Sunday, the Centre flagged a potential danger of another surge during the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan today wrote to Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, highlighting concerns raised by a high-level team that visited the state recently to review event preparedness.

“More than 12 states have shown a surge in cases during the past few weeks. A large number of pilgrims expected to visit Haridwar will be from these states. There is a risk of an upsurge in infection among the local population after the ‘shahi snan’ days,” he said.

Several states and Union territories have imposed restrictions, including full lockdown and night curfew.

In Maharashtra, the government has extended the new coronavirus guidelines till March 31. Night curfew has been announced in at least 10 districts including Aurangabad, Amravati, Yavatmal, Jalna and Parbhani. The state government has also ordered that theatres and auditoriums will run at 50 per cent capacity till March 31. Private sector offices have also been asked to operate with 50 per cent staff capacity and heads of government and semi-government offices, have been empowered to determine the number of employees to be called in.

The Punjab government has further tightened the guidelines in the 11 districts most affected by the pandemic. All educational institutions, except medical colleges, have been closed in these 11 districts till March 31. Examinations will also be postponed during this period. Night curfew has been imposed from 9pm to 5am in Mohali, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ropar, Moga, SBS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib.

The Gujarat government will not allow any public function to be held on Holi due to increasing Covid-19 cases.

The Madhya Pradesh government has announced a complete lockdown every Sunday for the three most affected districts of Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur. The Sunday lockdown has been imposed after seven months.

KEY COVID NUMBERS:

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 3,31,671

New Cases in last 24 hours: 46,996

Recovered in last 24 hours: 21,205

Increase in Active cases in last 24 hours: 25,578

No. of deaths in last 24 hours: 213

Most Affected States:

(S. No. / State / No. of Active Cases / New Cases in last 24 Hrs / Deaths in Last 24 Hrs)

1          Maharashtra     2,10,120           /           ↑30,535 /           ↑99

2          Kerala  24,619  /           ↑1,875  /           ↑13

3          Punjab  18,257  /           ↑2,644  /           ↑44

4          Karnataka         13,493  /           ↑1,715  /           ↑2

5          Chhattisgarh     8,442    /           ↑1,000  /           ↑10

6          Madhya Pradesh           8,000    /           ↑1,322  /           ↑3

7          Tamil Nadu       7,903    /           ↑1,289  /           ↑9

8          Gujarat 7,321    /           ↑1,580  /           ↑7

9          Haryana           5,355    /           ↑867     /           ↑5

10        Delhi    3,618    /           ↑823     /           ↑1

11        Rajasthan         3,585    /           ↑476     /           ↑2

12        West Bengal     3,504    /           ↑422     /           ↑3

13        Uttar Pradesh   3,036    /           ↑488     /           ↑1

14        Telangana        2,804    /           ↑394     /           ↑3

15        Andhra Pradesh            2,188    /           ↑368     /           Nil

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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US DEF SECY MEETS AF PREZ DURING ‘SECRET’ TRIP

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Afghanistan’s capital on Sunday morning, becoming the first member of President Biden’s cabinet to set foot in the country that is home to America’s longest war. The US is tentatively set to withdraw American forces from the country on May 1, the date set in an agreement signed by the Trump administration and the Taliban more than a year ago.

Speaking to reporters before his departure from Afghanistan, Austin declined to comment on whether the Taliban had met their obligations under that agreement, which would trigger the departure of US forces. “It’s obvious that the level of violence remains pretty high in the country,” Austin said. “We’d really like to see that violence come down, and I think if it does come down it can begin to set the conditions for some really fruitful diplomatic work.”

Afghanistan’s presidential palace said on Sunday that Austin and Ghani discussed the peace process and concerns over rising violence.

PHILIPPINES TELLS 200 CHINA VESSELS TO LEAVE SCS REEF

The Philippine defense chief on Sunday demanded over 200 Chinese vessels he said were manned by militias leave a South China Sea reef claimed by Manila, saying their presence was a “provocative action of militarising the area”.

A government watchdog overseeing the disputed region said about 220 Chinese vessels were seen moored at Whitsun Reef, which Beijing also claims, on March 7. The reef, which Manila calls Julian Felipe, is within the country’s exclusive economic zone, over which the Philippines “enjoys the right to exploit or conserve any resources”, the government watchdog said.

Chinese embassy officials didn’t issue any comment.

MYANMAR PROTESTERS DEFIANT AS 2 KILLED, PRESSURE ON JUNTA GROWS

Demonstrators in Myanmar maintained their dogged opposition to military rule on Sunday despite a rising death toll, with two more people killed as the junta appeared equally determined to resist growing pressure to compromise.

The country has been in turmoil since the military overthrew an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Western countries have condemned the coup and the violence. Asian neighbours have also begun speaking out. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have denounced the use of lethal force and called for the violence to stop. The Philippines has expressed concern. Indonesia and Malaysia want an urgent meeting of Southeast Asia’s regional grouping, of which Myanmar is a member, on the crisis.

THE REST

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BJP’S PROMISES GALORE, IN WEST BENGAL

Thirty-three per cent reservation for women in state government jobs, employment to at least one person in every family, implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, institution of Tagore prize on the line of Nobel Prize and Satyajit Ray Award on the line of Oscars to recognise global excellence and implementation of 7th Pay Commission scales for state government employees were some of the highlights of BJP election manifesto released by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Kolkata yesterday.

The manifesto also promises free education for female students up to post-graduate level

Besides promising women reservation in jobs, the party manifesto also announced free education for female students up to post-graduate level, free healthcare for all women (including advanced treatment), free travel for women in public transport, increase in widow pension to Rs 3,000 a month from the present Rs 1,000, nine women police battalions and three women reserved police battalions.

It also promised creating a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore for women self-help groups and providing Rs 2 lakh assistance to girl children on turning 18. West Bengal has over 3.5 crore women voters. The BJP hopes the pro-women promises, which found place right at the top of the “Sonar Bangla Sonkolpo Potro-2021”, as the BJP manifesto was christened, would be able to impress the women voters.

Shah also promised to ‘implement the CAA in the first meeting of the state Cabinet’

The party manifesto also promised a dole of Rs 10,000 annually to refugee families for a period of five years. The manifesto also promised inclusion of Mahishya, Tili and certain other Hindu communities in the list of OBCs, if the party came to power.

Gorkhas were once again promised “permanent political solution to the issue of Darjeeling Hills, Terai, Siliguri and Dooars region”. The manifesto promised recognising 11 Gorkha sub-tribes as STs and setting up in Darjeeling a museum featuring Gorkha freedom fighters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said anticipating defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has already started questioning the functioning of EVMs which has kept her in power for 10 years.

MAMATA BANERJEE FUMES AS ADHIKARI SR ALSO JOINS SAFFRON PARTY

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday blamed herself for not recognising the “true face” of the influential Adhikari family of Purba Medinipur district and called herself a “big donkey” for being unable to do so.

Venting her ire against Suvendu Adhikari, her protege-turned-rival who is pitted against the TMC leader from the Nandigram constituency for the Assembly polls, Banerjee said at an election rally here, she had even heard rumours the Adhikari family had built an empire worth Rs 5,000 crore.

She said she would get it investigated once she is voted to power. Veteran TMC MP Sisir Adhikari, father of Suvendu, on Sunday joined the BJP at Egra in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders of the party.

She also described the BJP as a party of “rogues and goons”.

WILL CREATE ‘NAYA PUNJAB’ ON THE LINES OF DELHI MODEL: KEJRIWAL

Sounding the poll bugle in Punjab ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday announced that if AAP forms government in Punjab next year, jobs would be provided to all the unemployed youths who were registered under the ‘Har Ghar Naukri’ scheme by Congress ahead of 2017 polls but allegedly never given the promised jobs.

Addressing the party’s ‘Kisaan Maha Sammelan’ at the grain market in Baghapurana of Moga, Kejriwal said he had come to salute the farmers of Punjab who are protesting at the borders of Delhi and were the “first ones to raise their voices against the Centre’s three farms laws” and start an “andolan (movement) which has now become an andolan of each Bharatwasi (countryman)”.

Kejriwal said that if AAP forms government next year, it will create a ‘Naya Punjab’ on the lines of the Delhi model “where people are getting free electricity, free treatment in mohalla clinics and excellent education in government schools”.

He asked people to “take revenge” from those who “cheated” them with their pre-poll promises.

UTTARAKHAND CM SPARKS NEW ROW WITH 'MORE KIDS, MORE RATION' REMARK

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Sunday again created a controversy with his remark over the amount of ration distributed during the COVID-19 lockdown: A family with two children got less ration and they would have got more if they had 20 children.

Addressing an event at Uttarakhand's Ramnagar, Rawat said, "Jisne 20 bacche paida kiye usse humne ek quintal anaj diya. Jisne do paida kiye unko 10 kilo. Jab waqt tha toh bacche paida kiye nhi....ab jisko jayada aanaj mil raha hai usse jalan kaisi (the family with 20 kids were distributed one quintal of rice while the family with two kids got 10 kg of rice. You did not give birth to enough kids when there was time...so there is nothing to be jealous of)."

The Uttarakhand CM also made a factual error when he said in this speech that 'America enslaved India for 200 years'. "As opposed to other countries, India is doing better in terms of handling the COVID-19 crisis. America, which enslaved us for 200 years and ruled the world, is struggling in current times," he said.

The newly appointed CM of Uttarakhand had recently stirred a row by saying that women wearing ripped jeans send a wrong message to society and children.

FOUNDERS NEVER INTERFERED: ASHOKA CHANCELLOR

The Ashoka University establishment reacted for the first time today on the ongoing unsavoury row over the exit of professors Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanian and said the founders had never interfered with academics and have always stood for intellectual independence.

At the same time, Mehta also wrote a letter to students saying it was time for him to move on. Urging students to find missions “larger than the fate of two professors”, Mehta said he had decided to close the Ashoka University chapter. “The underlying circumstances that led to the resignation will not change in the foreseeable future, in my case, at any rate. So I must close this chapter,” Mehta said to the students noting that although India was bursting with creativity, “dark shadows of authoritarianism are also hovering over us”.

“We will have to find principled ways of overcoming this condition,” said Mehta.

Ashoka varsity Chancellor Rudrangshu Mukherjee countered the recent aspersions on the institution saying Ashoka was “committed to academic freedom and intellectual independence”. Chairman of Ashoka’s Board of Trustees Ashish Dhawan in another letter to students said the institution would keep lines of communication open to understand each other better.

CBSE TO MAKE SOFTCOPIES OF MIGRATION CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE ON DIGILOCKER

Soft copies of migration certificates for Classes 10 and 12 will now be available on DigiLocker, the Central Board of Secondary Education said on Sunday. This will be available from this academic year.

The circular, issued by the Controller of Examination, said that the decision will also help in web verification of the documents. The board will completely stop issuing hard copies of migration certificates from 2024, the circular said.

Migration certificate is an important document that helps establish that a person was a student of the board.  The document is important for a student changing boards after Class 10 and for people applying for higher education.

The existing rules require the school principal or a gazette officer to attest a request for duplicate documents. In addition, one must publish a notice of such a loss in two national dailies.

CBSE has done away with both these conditions, and requires an applicant to send only a valid photo identity such as Aadhaar card, Driving License, Voter ID Card, and their bank pass book with their application to the board.

SRINIVAS GOWDA SETS NEW RECORD IN KAMBALA RACING

Noted Kambala jockey Srinivas Gowda, who was termed Usain Bolt of Kambala last year by covering a 125-metre buffalo racing track in 9.55 seconds, has created a new record by completing 100 metres in just 8.96 seconds, organisers said.

He achieved the feat in ‘Soorya Chandra Jodukere’ Kambala organised at Venoor-Permuda in Belthangady taluk on Saturday.

Gowda covered the 125 metre-long Kambala track in 11.21 seconds. On calculating the speed versus distance, he covered 100 metres in just 8.96 seconds and broke his own previous records, the organisers said.

A year ago, he had created a record by covering a 100 metre-track in 9.55 seconds. Later, Bajgoli Nishanth Shetty broke the record by covering 100 metres in 9.52 seconds at Venoor Kambala.

Kambala is an annual race held in Karnataka where people sprint through paddy fields with buffaloes.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about. - Charles Kingsley

OFF TRACK

Two Irishmen flew to Canada on a hunting trip. They chartered a small plane to take them into the Rockies for a week hunting moose.

They managed to bag six. As they were loading the plane to return, the Pilot said the plane could take only 4 moose.

The two lads objected strongly. "Last year we shot six. The pilot let us take them all and he had the same plane as yours."

Reluctantly, the pilot gave in and all six were loaded. The plane took off. However, while attempting to cross some mountains, even on full power, the little plane couldn't handle the load and went down.

Somehow, surrounded by the moose bodies, only Paddy and Mick survived the crash. After climbing out of the wreckage, Paddy asked Mick, "Any idea where we are?"

Mick replied, "I think we're pretty close to where we crashed last year."