DURING NANDIGRAM POLLING, MAMATA BANERJEE CRIES FOUL

A massive turnout of 80.79 per cent was recorded in West Bengal’s Nandigram yesterday amid a fair bit of drama as Trinamool and BJP workers almost came to blows. CM Mamata Banerjee is locked in a high-voltage contest with her former loyalist-turned-BJP nominee Suvendu Adhikari in the segment. West Bengal recorded 80.43 per cent polling across 30 segments in the second of the eight-phase elections being conducted in the state. Assam, where elections were held for 39 seats in the second phase, recorded a turnout of 77.21 per cent.

In Nandigram, Mamata landed up in polling booth number 7 at Boyal after hearing reports of alleged rigging by the BJP. Trinamool and BJP supporters soon assembled on either side of a field and started challenging each other. The police had a tough time bringing the situation under control.

Mamata, on a wheelchair, was taken inside the polling booth to ensure she remained safe in case a clash broke out. She remained holed up there for over an hour and was finally rescued after additional forces arrived.

While waiting at the polling booth, Mamata phoned Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and complained that the central forces were allegedly not allowing the locals to cast their vote.

The CM later told the media that since morning, she received 63 complaints about alleged electoral malpractices by the BJP. She alleged 80 per cent bogus votes had been cast in booth number 7.

Accusing the central paramilitary forces of not doing their work in an impartial manner, Mamata alleged they were following instructions from Home Minister Amit Shah. She alleged the Election Commission had turned a blind eye to the help extended to BJP candidates by the central forces.

Meanwhile, addressing a poll rally in Bengal's Uluberia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  targeted Mamata Banerjee and said that the people of Bengal have decided that Didi must go. Further taunting Bengal CM, PM Modi at Uluberia rally asked, "Didi, is there any truth in the rumour that you are going to file nomination from another constituency? First you went there (Nandigram), & people gave you an answer. If you go somewhere else, people of Bengal are ready."

PAK TAKES U-TURN ON IMPORTS FROM INDIA

In a setback to prospects of restarting trade via Wagah, the Pakistan Cabinet has put off the proposal to import sugar and cotton from India. The proposal was cleared a day earlier by the Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

On Wednesday, Pakistan appeared to be on course to reversing two official notifications of August 10, 2019, that banned all trade with India in protest against the change in status of J&K. But there might have been an internal pushback in Islamabad because at least one import proposal — for raw cotton and yarn — must have been cleared by Pakistan PM Imran Khan as he is also the Minister of Commerce and Textile.

Newly appointed Pakistan Finance Minister Hammad Azhar had framed the ECC’s approval for the import of cotton and sugar in terms of economic necessity. Prices of sugar in India were the lowest in the world while cotton will help the textile sector tide over raw material shortage.

The tables were turned on Thursday with Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari tweeting that the Cabinet has not approved the EEC’s decision. “Today cabinet stated clearly NO trade with India,” she tweeted, while stating that Imran Khan had made it clear that “there can be no normalisation of relations with India until they reverse their illegal actions” regarding occupied Kashmir taken on August 5, 2019.

If Pakistan had cancelled the two notifications, the path would have cleared for India reversing the 200 per cent duty imposed on Pakistani trade.

INDIA-CHINA N-ESCALATION UNLIKELY: REPORT

An international think tank has said nuclear escalation between India and China is not only unlikely but also “unthinkable”. It, however, warned that assumptions of “parity” amid extended ranges of nuclear systems and deployments may lead to “misunderstandings and mis-signalling”.

Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Thursday released its report “South Asia Nuclear challenges Interlocking views from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States”. It cited experts from the five countries to build an argument.

“Among Chinese and Indian experts, there was a prevailing view that they shared the same stance on no-first use and that nuclear escalation between the two countries was not only unlikely, but also unthinkable,” the report said.

The report warned that assumptions of “postural parity” may bring stability in the short term, especially when altercations were largely limited to skirmishes at the border, but in the longer term, such assumptions might lead to “misunderstandings and mis-signalling”.

The continued dominance in Indian analyses of the concept of a “two-front” threat from China and Pakistan meant that greater consideration of how deterrence would operate among these three countries, said the SIPRI report.

Emerging technologies may have a cascading effect. “Experts from India and Pakistan expressed concerns over how hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence and autonomy may change the concept of deterrence,” the report said.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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UN ENVOY WARNS OF ‘IMMINENT BLOODBATH’ IN RESTIVE MYANMAR

Myanmar activists burned copies of a military-framed constitution on Thursday two months after the junta seized power, as a UN special envoy warned of the risk of a bloodbath because of an intensified crackdown on anti-coup protesters.

Myanmar has been rocked by protests since the army overthrew the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 citing unsubstantiated claims of fraud in a November election. Suu Kyi and other members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) have been detained.

The UN envoy’s warning of a bloodbath follows relentless action by the security forces against anti-military protests and a flare-up in fighting between the army and ethnic minority insurgents in frontier regions.

At least 538 civilians have been killed in the protests, 141 of them on Saturday, the bloodiest day of the unrest, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

INDIA BACKS WHO CHIEF’S CALL FOR PROBE INTO COVID LAB LEAK THEORY

After WHO director general Tedros Ghebreyesus effectively revived the Covid-19 lab leak theory by saying that all hypotheses regarding the origin of the virus remained on the table, India on Thursday backed his comments and said he had raised the issue of delays and difficulties in accessing raw data.

Released earlier this week, the China-WHO global study appeared to give a clean chit to China by declaring that the lab leak theory seemed unlikely and that the virus was probably passed on to humans from bats via an intermediary animal. But a day later, Ghebreyesus said no theory had been ruled out.

“We fully support the director general’s expectation that future collaborative studies will include more timely and comprehensive data sharing. In this connection, we also welcome his readiness to deploy additional missions,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

India had backed calls for a full probe into the virus’ origin last year, just ahead of border tensions with China.

THE REST

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IN ASSAM, PM MODI SAYS: GRAND LIE OF GRAND ALLIANCE WILL SUFFER A GRAND DEFEAT

The “maha jhooth” (grand lie) of the ‘Mahajot’ (Congress-AIUDF alliance) will suffer a “maha haar” (grand defeat), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday told a massive election rally in Kokrajhar, the headquarter of the Bodoland Territorial Region in western Assam.

“Congress and its ‘mahajot’ have been shown the red card again,” said PM Modi, while adding that people believe in the NDA for peace and security in Assam. “This election is between Mahajot’s maha jhoot and double engine’s maha-vikas,” he said, referring to BJP-led governments at the Centre and state. “For sustained development in Bodoland, our mantra is peace, progress and protection,” he said, while alleging that the Congress encourages encroachers and divides communities.

The BJP has repeatedly alleged that Badruddin Ajmal and his party AIUDF encourage unauthorised migration from Bangladesh. “Those people whom the Congress had protected earlier for its vote bank, today the Congress is dreaming of grabbing power with their help,” Modi said on Thursday.

Modi talked about a video in which the Assamese gamusa was “insulted” and said those who love Assam were “angered and hurt” by the video. It was ostensibly a reference to a tweet by CM Sarbananda Sonowal containing a video purportedly showing Ajmal at an election rally while hastily throwing the gamusa at someone.

The Bodoland region, where a peace agreement was signed with insurgent Bodo outfits last year, is said to roughly translate to at least 15 Assembly seats and goes to polls in the third phase on April 6. The political dynamics have recently shifted with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), an ally of the BJP in the outgoing state government with three ministers and led by influential Bodoland leader Hagrama Mohilary, aligning with the Congress’s ‘Mahajot’.

CONGRESS VETERAN WRITES TO SONIA GANDHI OVER ‘MISMANAGEMENT’

Stating that the situation in the Congress has deteriorated so much that many party workers are now unwilling to declare themselves as members of the party, a Congress old timer has written an open letter to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking an honest introspection.

In his letter, Ranji Thomas, a former AICC secretary — who has worked closely with late Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni and Oscar Fernandes, asked Sonia to continue as party president and reconstitute the Congress Working Committee (CWC) with “leaders of experience, knowledge, political acumen and loyalty to the Congress.”

A lawyer by profession, Thomas was appointed Advocate General of Arunachal Pradesh during the UPA government. He alleged that the party is “presently facing unforeseen challenges from outside and within” and some action needs to be taken “before it is damaged irretrievably.”

“Today, we have come to a stage where many active party workers are unwilling to declare themselves as members of the great political party, which got freedom for India, but prefer silence or are joining other parties due to compelling reasons,” he said in the letter.

Thomas urged Sonia to take steps to “reactivate and rejuvenate” the party and argued that her continuance as the Congress president is the only way to do it.

ELECTION COMMISSION BARS DMK’S RAJA FROM CAMPAIGNING FOR 48 HOURS

The Election Commission has issued an order debarring DMK leader A Raja from campaigning for 48 hours after finding him guilty of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for making derogatory remarks against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his mother.

Reprimanding Raja for violating the code of conduct, the poll panel also delisted his name from the list of star campaigners of the DMK and debarred him from campaigning for 48 hours “with immediate effect”.

Assembly polls will be held in Tamil Nadu on April 6 in a single phase for which campaigning will end on April 4.

“The commission also advises you to be watchful and not make intemperate, indecent, derogatory, obscene remarks and lower the dignity of women in future during election campaign,” the poll panel said in its order.

Referring to his speeches, the EC pointed out that Raja had allegedly said (DMK leader MK) “Stalin is a child of good relationship and good birth while Palaniswami is a child of bad relationship and a premature born child”. The EC also referred to some other remarks made by Raja against the state CM.

AMID POLL, PHALKE AWARD FOR RAJINIKANTH

Superstar Rajinikanth will on May 3 receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2019 after a five-member jury unanimously chose the actor for the highest honour of the Indian cinema.

The government made the announcement today few days before the April 6 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, where Rajinikanth commands cult presence, cutting across the divides of age, caste and religion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally led the greetings to the 70-year-old, saying, “Popular across generations, a body of work few can boast of, diverse roles and an endearing personality...that’s Shri Rajinikanth ji for you. It is a matter of immense joy that Dadasaheb Phalke Award has been conferred on Thalaiva. Congratulations to him.”

Rajinikanth reciprocated thanking the government, and dedicated the award to those who joined his life journey specially his one-time colleague Raj Bahadur, a bus conductor and his elder brother Satyanarayan Rao.

COVID VIRUS MAY BE GETTING MORE INFECTIOUS, LESS LETHAL

An analysis of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the ongoing second wave in India suggests that the virus maybe getting more infectious but less lethal—a course that many experts and epidemiologists had earlier anticipated.

In Maharashtra, the first wave started on March 9, 2020 and ended on December 22, 2020, when daily average of cases reached its minimum value. In this 288-day period, 19 lakh cases were reported, averaging 6,606 a day. Since December 22, the state is witnessing another surge in cases and the 99 days since then till March 31, 2021 have seen 9.1 lakh cases, an average of 9,197 cases a day.

Similarly, the daily average of cases in Punjab is 1,069 for this phase compared to 532 earlier.

“The virus seems to have mutated to be more infective and less lethal as the overall case fatality rate at all-India level is about one third of its previous value,” said Dr Sumit Ray, head of critical care medicine in Delhi’s Holy Family Hospital. He explained that viruses typically mutate to increase their spread and survival and this has earlier happened to many viruses like the influenza virus.

He also added that the low fatality in the ongoing phase might also be because the virus is infecting more young patients (possibly because a fair number of elderly are vaccinated and also because the young are more mobile and hence more exposed). Further, a better understanding of the pathophysiology now than at the onset of Covid-19 means patients are being treated more appropriately. He cautioned that deaths lag by about 10 days from the surge in cases. “Still, the patterns so far show a significant decline,” he said.

Meanwhile, an expert panel of the country’s top drug regulator has allowed Bharat Biotech to administer a third dose of Covaxin to some of the volunteers in its ongoing clinical trials of the Covid vaccine. The approval, a result of the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker’s proposal to use an additional booster dose, would allow it to test the ability of Covaxin to prompt an immune response that could last a few years.

As on Thursday, around 6.75 crore doses of Covid vaccines — Covaxin and Serum Institute of India’s Covishield — had been administered across India, of which 61.36 lakh were of Covaxin, according to the government.

KEY COVID NUMBERS:

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 6,10,925

New Cases in last 24 hours: 81,400

Recovered in last 24 hours: 50,386

Increase in Active cases in last 24 hours: 30,546

No. of deaths in last 24 hours: 468

Most Affected States:

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

1          Maharashtra     3,66,533           /           43,183  /           249

2          Karnataka         30,865  /           4,234    /           18

3          Chhattisgarh     28,987  /           4,617    /           34

4          Kerala              26,197  /           2,798    /           11

5          Punjab              24,644  /           3,161    /           58

6          Madhya Pradesh           18,057  /           2,546    /           12

7          Tamil Nadu       17,043  /           2,817    /           19

8          Gujarat             12,996  /           2,410    /           9

9          Uttar Pradesh   11,918  /           2,589    /           9

10        Delhi                10,498  /           2,790    /           9

11        Haryana                       10,362  /           1,609    /           9

12        Rajasthan         9,563    /           1,350    /           4

13        Andhra Pradesh            8,142    /           1,271    /           3

14        West Bengal     6,513    /           1,274    /           2

15        Telangana        5,511    /           887       /           4

16        Jharkhand        3,352    /           690       /           1

17        Himachal Pradesh         3,221    /           409       /           4

18        Chandigarh       2,951    /           257       /           1

19        JnK                  2,874    /           461       /           4

20        Uttarakhand      2,236    /           500       /           2

21        Odisha             2,125    /           394       /           NIL

22        Bihar                1,907    /           488       /           2

23        Goa                  1,716    /           265       /           1

24        Puducherry       1,290    /           260       /           1

25        Assam              537       /           58        /           2

GST COLLECTIONS HIT RECORD HIGH OF ₹1.24L CR IN MARCH

GST collections rose 27% to hit a record high of nearly Rs 1.24 lakh crore in March, helping to narrow the deficit for the full financial year to around 7%.

The mop-up—based on sales in February 2021, for which returns were filed in March—was boosted by imports, with revenue from imported goods jumping 70%, while those from domestic transactions, including services imports, were 17% higher than the corresponding period in 2020.

GST revenues crossed above Rs 1 lakh crore mark at a stretch for the last six months and a steep increasing trend over this period are clear indicators of rapid economic recovery post pandemic. Closer monitoring against fake billing, deep data analytics using data from multiple sources including GST, income-tax and customs IT systems and effective tax administration have also contributed to the steady increase in tax revenue over last few months,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

TWO HELD FOR ROLE IN FORCING NUNS OFF TRAIN

Two persons have been detained for their alleged role in the March 19 incident at the Jhansi railway station, where four Christian women, including two nuns, were verbally harassed and forced off a train after being falsely accused of engaging in forced religious conversion.

The two held have been identified as Anchal Arjariya and Purgesh Amariya. Arjariya’s social media profile describes him as an office-bearer of VHP and Hindu Jagran Manch, and a member of the Gau Raksha Samiti.

The incident was brought to light in a video that showed the women being questioned by ABVP men and Railway security personnel, and asked to get off the train.

Following the video, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said during a poll rally in Kerala, from where the nuns are, that the culprits “will be brought to justice”.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. - Francis Bacon

OFF TRACK

According to a recent survey, men say the first thing they notice about a woman is their eyes. And women say the first thing they notice about men is they're a bunch of liars.